Generation 11
by Ailurophilek
Summary: 20 years after the 10th Gen. return to the present, a new family gained power and is begins to destroy the Vongola's power. To save the Vongola family, the Guardians decide to recruit the 11th Gen. members early. But they never knew just how much trouble this new family was going to cause. The 11th Gen. must stop them with little experience. The whole world is on their shoulders.
1. Chapter 1

STORY

**Please note that this story is based on Katekyo Hitman Reborn.**

**This story is written by Ailurophilek and Regionacht**

**Certain characters ARE NOT OURS**

**All canon credits goes to Akira Amano, creator of Reborn!**

**We are non-profit.**

_**PLEASE DO NOT STEAL OR REUSE IN ANY WAY.**_

_**Prologue**_

Prologue (Maybe)

Tsuna danced towards the sunset, twirling around in circles. Wait, no. That isn't how it's supposed to start. The real start of this story is much more… ah, I don't know. But we start with the one that is in the most pain.

The monster.

The creatures were there again, silently staring at him. A shiver ran down his spine, but he was already used to the feeling. Ah… They're here to torture me again aren't they? He stared back at them, helpless. Closing his eyes, he braced himself. The pain was more than real. The stabbing, the slicing, the pounding. He screamed, but there was nobody to hear except for the monstrous beasts. He rebelled, using all of his strength to rebel, but to no avail. He gasped but that just made them stab him harder. He was drowning, drowning fast, even though he had oxygen. He could see the water fill with wisps of blood; beautiful red blossoms, but those faded away quickly, as he probably would too. The stabbing continued, as well as the pounding, growing with the sound in his head. Violently screaming, he knew he couldn't last much longer. He hoped for someone to come and help, he wished for warmth. But there was nobody to help, nobody to care, nobody to save him, just like in his dark past. There was nobody… Nobody at all. Just before he fell into darkness for the millionth time, he saw a flash of a girl. A girl he knew all too well, smiling at him like nobody else would ever. His heart twisted with agony and remorse... knowing that she would have to suffer just like he did; the girl that he had brought to life.

**One**

Tsuna awoke from his nightmares , panting, with a small brunette girl pounding the pillow by him. "Oto-san, oto-san, WAKE UP!"

Tsuna yawned and ruffled Yuriko's hair, but shuddered as the nightmare played through his mind. Something was not right. He could feel that something dark was creeping it's way towards them. Tsuna then shook it off when Yuriko stared at him with big eyes and a wide smile, seeing that her father had finally awoken.

"Got it, Yuri. Now go to your mother. Did you eat breakfast yet?"

Yuriko pouted and stared at him in a reprimanding manner that was much like her mother's. "Ogaa-san said that we couldn't eat until you woke up. And I had to wait for you to eat pancakes! Big fat meanie oto-san!"

After she said this however, she immediately looked regretful that she said that, as if she was scared that she had offended him. Tsuna looked at Yuriko warmly before stretching and accidentally bouncing her off of him.

Sounds of fighting and squabbling came from outside the door. Tsuna frowned and climbed out of bed. He stumbled down the stairs. Tsuna caught Haru's eye and they both laughed. "Still clumsy today as always, Tsu-kun?" Tsuna smiled apologetically and opened the door-the door to Karina's bedroom. A person instantly yelled in his face.

"Sawada Kazuto, how dare you take charge of my life?! I want to be a part of the Vongola, not you! This is my life, my decision!"

"Karina, listen to me! It's too dangerous! You're risking your life! You don't understand what it's like to be part of the mafia!"

"Oh, like you know what's it like to be part of it! You're such a coward, Kazuto. I can't believe you're my brother!" Karina replied almost instantly. Huffing exasperatedly, she turned and looked at her father.

"As all boys are stupid." She muttered. Karina then realized that she has been looking at her father and her face lit up. Tsuna would understand. They were arguing about joining the Vongola – again, and this time, just like always, it was inconclusive. Kazuto still thought it was dangerous and Karina still thought that it wouldn't be a problem.

Kazuto took on a dark expression "I'm just looking out for you. Better safe than sorry," He wanted to say but turned to his father with a smile.

"Hey dad. Sorry to wake you up," he said, ignoring his twin sister. He brushed his dark hair away from his eyes, and glanced tiredly at Karina.

Tsuna made a face. The twins were fighting again. He wondered how he got himself all tangled with children problems but pushed the thought aways and instead chuckled as he patted Karina's head, which was covered in long, black hair. Much like her mother's, except longer.

"Well, Kari and Kazu. I'm glad both of you have strong opinions. You both take after your mother." At this, he winked at Haruhi just before she went back into the kitchen. Tsuna then turned to the two.

"All I have to say is that you two should be able to figure this out. Karina, your brother is just looking out for you. I'm sure he's just worried about you." Tsuna then turned to Kazuto as Karina worked up her anger.

"And Kazuto, it's not really your job to limit your sister's choices. She needs to have life her way. Remember that I'm in Vongola too, of course I would protect her best if she were to join." Running a hand through his hair, Tsuna squeezed Karina's shoulder.

"I believe you two can figure this out." He flashed a grin at Kazuto before leaving the room. Yuriko, who was behind the door the whole time, followed Tsuna out like a lost puppy dog. Karina turned on Kazuto instantly after Tsuna left the room and opened her mouth. However, she shut it close before anything could escape. She was still angry, oh yeah, she was. But she could also see Kazuto's point. It was dangerous. But she just wants him to stop treating her like a baby. She had already thought about all these things but life- there's no value in it if there is no adventure. Kazuto was silent for a moment before sighing and walked towards the kitchen, but he tripped over a chair and fell on his face.

"Ow!" he exclaimed.

"Argh. Kazuto, you are always so clumsy!" Karina said and picked up the chair. She took him by the elbow and harshly jerked him up.

"Gah! I'm sorry! It's not like I meant for it to happen! Now go eat breakfast or help mom with it; we've got to get to school now!"

Kari rolled her eyes.

"Kazu, it's almost spring break. Who cares?" She was still mad at him about the whole Vongola business. Unlike him, she kept grudges for a longer time. Even though, she strode into the kitchen to help Haru.

After making breakfast with her mother, Karina stopped in the hallway before entering the dining room and tugged on Kazuto, who was also going into the dining room. Almost hauling him back and stopping him in mid-stride. She wore the apologetic look she always did when she was about to get over her grudge.

"Ugh… Kazuto. I'm really sorry. I... just really want to take part in the vongola family. I mean, I know it's scary and dangerous but dad didn't die yet… I really think life would be so much better if I joined. And if I ever did get into trouble, I'm sure a brother like you would always be there for me."

Kari added the last part hesitantly, but Kazu smiled. "I understand. I just got too worried, that's all." He began to set up the table, nearly breaking many plates in the process. Karina helped him.

Tsuna came out of his bedroom, dressed in a formal suit.

"Well guys, I'm off to work!"

Haruhi hurriedly passed a boxed lunch to Tsuna and stuck her thumb out. "Haruhi is ready to say goodbye for the day!"

Tsuna smiled at Haruhi's daily optimism and kissed Yuriko on the head.

"Drive safely!"

Yuriko and Haru waved to him as he went into his car.

...

"You go first, I'm still hungry!"

Kazu sighed, "Kari, you already had two servings!"

"Shoes, Kari, shoes!" Haru yelled, a spatula in her hand.

Karina ignored both of them. Kazuto sighed and went out onto the back porch to wait for Karina with Yuriko, who wore a worried expression.

"Onii-chan… do you think Onee-chan will become a mafia?"

Yuriko stared up at Kazuto with big, watery eyes as they sat, waiting for Karina to finish her breakfast. Kazuto was holding his head in his hands.

"I...guess." He said but then patted Yuriko on the head. "It's okay Yuri, dad'll protect her." He then picked her up and spun her around while stepping into their grassy back yard.

"Believe me, Yuriko. Karina knows it's dangerous. She has always taken things seriously… I'm sure she thought about it already." He said, despite his own doubts. Then he stepped onto the porch again and yelled. "Oi, Kari! Hurry up! We're gonna be late!"

...

"Good morning! Ju-Daimei!" It was Gokudera, obviously, greeting Tsuna as he came out of his car and into the building that was now the Vongola's Japan headquarters. The building was massive; three stories and a basement covered in white marble stone. He was as cheerful as always in front of Tsuna. Tsuna smiled. By now, he has gotten used to how Gokudera always called him that. However, he also kept the habit of telling him to quit calling him that.

"Good morning, Gokudera-kun. But it's really fine to stop calling me that. I don't want to be anyone's 'boss'."

Gokudera lifted an eyebrow.

"Ju-daimei, I really appreciate you being my boss and as your right-hand man, I must give you the uttermost respect! Please forgive me! "

Tsuna frown-smiled.

"O-okay, it's alright. No need to do that, either," Tsuna stuttered. Then he straightened up and took a deep breath, stepping into the busy restaurant that led to the Vongola's working place. Today was probably going to be another busy day. He still hadn't sorted out the files about a certain mafia group that Reborn had told him to do research on. Tsuna had almost wailed when Reborn handed him the assignment. The mafia group was all the way in England and was not of his concern or business, even though he knew it probably kind of was. However, Reborn had simply slapped Tsuna on the cheek and jumped onto his head for him to accept the assignment.

"You're never too old for training. You are better now, I agree. But you still are a dumb one. Keep researching; it'll help you. No more complaints."

Reborn was drinking tea and dressed up weirdly that day – again. Tsuna had no choice but to do as told.

Tsuna was still thinking about that event as Hibari came down the hallway, as early as always. He was wearing the same tight expression with the same cold aura from twenty years ago. It was always coming off of him like waves, trying to drown everyone in it.

Tsuna instantly felt a slight shiver but he knew that Hibari changed; Now he wasn't as threatening as before, but still so. He knew that Hibari is to be trusted.

Hibari noticed Tsuna and eyed him dangerously before tipping his chin down just enough so it could be considered a nod of respect. Respect for Tsuna as the Vongola boss. It was a big improvement, even though Hibari still would not cease to threaten Tsuna from time to time.

Gokudera opened his mouth to speak, probably something about not being so rude and to give the boss more respect, but Tsuna grabbed his sleeve and tugged on it to make him stumble and a sign for him to not say anything. He was quite used to it already.

"How dare Hibari!" Gokudera hissed after they were out of earshot. Tsuna shook his head, trying to shake off the shiver.

"Hibari is as scary as ever!" Tsuna said in his usual scaredy-cat voice as they reached Tsuna's office. Even after working together for so many years, he still wasn't used to Hibari's glare. Tsuna stood there and lit up a small flame with his sky ring, inserting the flame into the 'lock' right beside the handle. Anyone who had a Vongola ring could gain accessibility to his office. The annoying thing was that he had to lock it using his ring again after entering, if he wanted privacy. Or in other words, every single time he entered his office.

But he constantly forgot to do that, leaving the door unlocked, which was fine by him. However, if Reborn found out that Tsuna left the door unlocked (Reborn detested that. He said it was deadly leaving doors unlocked) and also lets agents go in and out freely, he would kill him – more or less (which makes it deadly anyways, if Reborn is going to kill him).

Now opening the door, Tsuna took a look and checked all around to make sure everything was in place. He took caution while he stepped into his office. Tsuna's prudence couldn't be taken as foolishness, for Reborn had told him to be careful since anyone could be in his office, waiting to assassinate him just because he was of high hierarchy as well as a very famous family's boss. Because of this, Tsuna had to go through hard-core training, led by Reborn. Yes, he had started placing traps and other misery-causing items in Tsuna's office. While Reborn called it "typical, normal training", Tsuna called it "Reborn-trying-to-kill-me".

The first time, Tsuna had only just walked into his office when a bucket of water fell onto him from above. Stumbling, he lost his balance and when trying to gain it again, fell into a hole in the ground. Thankfully, the bottom was covered with hay or he could have sworn that he would have died and Reborn's assassination would be complete. After that, Tsuna tried to get up, but when standing, his foot triggered a thin wire. A 4-feet log came swinging at him and he had to make himself fall flat to avoid it, injuring his chin in the process. After the log had swung back and forth, he stood up but before he knew what was happening, he was flying in midair with the log bouncing away from his head from the blow. After crouching with pain in the dark pit for ages, Tsuna decided that he was ready to get out. This time being super cautious, he was surprised when he actually got out with no problems. However, before he had the chance to celebrate, a beep sounded and Tsuna could only pray to heaven as a tennis machine started chucking tennis balls at him, drowning him in a sea of tennis balls. All that time, Reborn had only sat on a windowsill, smiling to himself while drinking tea. He had watched the fun with Ryohei and Yamamoto, who were feeling extremely sorry for Tsuna, but were limited from helping, and to tell the truth, they laughed a lot when they saw Tsuna like that. And that was only the first time. Though Reborn had claimed the training as complete, Tsuna was still as cautious as a mouse sneaking past a cat. Just in case.

...

After researching for a while with Gokudera, Tsuna decided to take a break. It was already pretty late in the morning and noon was gaining on them. Gokudera's time was already up. His shift on looking through young adults' profiles had come. They were starting to gather information on the next generation's candidates. Gokudera stretched and flipped out a cigarette, which he placed between his teeth. Knowing that Tsuna had forgotten to lock the door, he tugged on it and went out. "Good luck with the research, Ju-daimei!" He encouraged. Tsuna rubbed his forehead and nodded, "Yeah, thanks."

...

Tsuna was eating lunch when an agent barged into his office in the Vongola's secret base, carrying a pistol. Great, forgot to lock the door again. But that didn't matter now; the agent looked like he just came from a battlefield. Tsuna's eyes narrowed. "Why in such a rush?"

"S-sorry to intrude, sir, but we're being attacked! Many of our men's bodies are out there!"

Tsuna's look sharpened. "By who?"

"A new family, I think, sir. They wouldn't reveal their name."

Gokudera interrupted, running into the room. "Ju-daimei! The intruders – they're taking our people! They are crazily killing anyone who refuses to go with them!"

Tsuna noticed that Gokudera's sleeve was covered in blood and one hand was clasped over the bloodied arm.

"Raise the auto-defense protocols, and please tell me, Gokudera, do you have any idea about who they are?" Tsuna immediately got up, ready to fight. He gestured towards the seat for Gokudera to sit, and motioned for the other agent to leave.

"I'm sorry Ju-daimei, I really didn't want to interrupt you. But it's just me and Hibari right now… They're the –"

Alarms blaring drowned out Gokudera's voice. He tried again.

"They're the –"

Sounds of people screaming yet again drowned out Gokudera's voice.

"THEY'RE THE –"

A bomb boomed, making it unable to hear him. Tsuna was already wearing his contacts and standing by the door. He made a hand gesture for Gokudera to stop. "It's alright, Gokudera-kun. Just rest here, I'll handle this. You can tell me later." Tsuna's eyes were focused and he turned to reassure Gokudera with a warm smile before stepping out into the chaos.

**-END OF CHAPTER 1-**

THANK YA'LL FOR READING

*CUE APPLAUSE AND FLOWERS AND RAINBOWS AND MAGIC FLYING FLUFFY RAINBOW UNICORNS*

Regionacht: We'll try to upload every week, but it will be pretty hard, as both of us have tons of stuff in our real life (yes, into the unwanted reality we return!).

If you have questions or critique or something or think that we're lacking in a certain area, please tell us. It'll make things better for everyone.

Ailurophilek: Anyways, NEXT TIME! What is happening? Who is so brave as to attack the Vongola family? Oh wait, you only do that in episodes… (Regi: EXACTLY) but I really want to give a NEXT TIME! Speech! Heh, you know, previews.


	2. Chapter 2

**Two**

"Kari, you're going to be late! Kazu is probably already at Yuri's school!" Haru chided as she watched her daughter gulp down more food.

"Mo-om! I'm hungry! The school never serves any decent food!" Karina wailed.

"You _could_ take a bento, like your bro –"

"I'm too lazy!"

"Don't cut me off, Karina. And I already made a bento for you today."

Karina scowled, and slung her backpack over her shoulder. She grabbed the bento and ran off to meet up with her brother at Yuriko's school.

Karina spotted her brother before her brother spotted her. Smiling gleefully, Karina crept up to Kazuto, who was just coming around the corner out of Yuriko's elementary. Karina closed her eyes and felt the sneaky feeling of anticipation as she hid behind the wall, preparing to scare heck out of Kazuto. Then, without warning, Karina jumped out from behind the corner and lunged at Kazuto. Her face went pale in mid-air and she twisted into a back flip, successfully stopping herself from lunging onto Kazuto – or the person who she thought was Kazuto.

"AGH!" The person yelped, falling flat on his bottom. "Ow! What are yo- Karina?"

Karina was stunned for a moment but relief washed over her when she realized that the person who witnessed her randomly lunging at people was none other than Hitobi Yoritomo, her brother's best friend. Kazuto happened to be standing right beside him. Rubbing her arm, Karina knew that while she was waiting with anticipation, her brother must have joined Yoritomo. After all, Yoritomo did join up with them to go to school sometimes.

"Oi...Karina… That was….Surprising." Kazuto said after recovering from what had happened. Her sister had just tried to _jump_ on Yoritomo.

"Yeah, yeah," Karina muttered to her brother. Then she turned to Yoritomo. "Sorry, I thought you were Kazu."

Yoritomo, looked up and ran his fingers through his black hair. "It's alright. No biggie. I believe I can assume that you and your brother have a very decent relationship."

Karina took a deep breath. "That's a hard one."

Kazuto gave Karina a stern stare before shrugging.

"C'mon, we don't have time anymore."

At school, Karina jammed her backpack into her locker and took off to home room. Karina looked around before sitting down. Her classmates were sitting already and her teacher eyed her briefly, indicating that she had just made it in time. Then Karina noticed the empty seat beside hers, which belonged to a friends of hers. It was unnatural for her to be late.

...

Her shoes tapped lightly on the shiny, polished floor as she ran hurriedly to the front desk. Huffing, she signed herself in. Hair was flying over her face as she sprinted to her locker and stuffed her school bag in. Homeroom was almost over, which meant that she was almost half an hour late.

Finally she arrived and slowly slid open the door.

"S-sorry I'm lat-"

"Akane! What took you so long? You are not usually the late type."

It was Karina, cutting her off just like usual. Akane gave an apologetic look to their teacher and sat down beside Karina.

"Alarm clock went crazy..."

Akane replied, rubbing her brow. She was still heavy with sleep for she had just awoken ten minutes ago. Yawning, Akane replayed the events of what had happened that morning in her head.

Bangs, crashes, yelps, and a few screams had escaped from upstairs, with some barks and growls following it.

"DAD! WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME?!" Akane had yelled from upstairs, running around.

Her father had sighed and shook out the newspaper. "Akane, you have to be more responsible now!"

Felix, the large shiba inu of the Chiruma household, had gone down stairs and snuggled by his master, whimpering. Mr. Chiruma scratched his ear.

After that, Akane had crashed down the stairs, nearly breaking a prized antique vase. Her shoulder length ginger hair was unkempt, and textbooks were on the edge of falling out of her schoolbag. "I'm sorry I woke up so late. But please, dad. Sometimes alarm clocks can lag..." Akane had said and grabbed a piece of toast. She then had stepped into her school shoes while brushing her hair vigorously for a moment

When she had run outside, she had crashed into a boy.

"So sorry, but I'm kind of late for school! I'm so, so sorry!" She had started running again but was stopped with a question.

"Wait what's your name?" The white haired person had asked.

"It's Akane! I'm so sorry-again. But I really need to get to school. Like… Now." Then Akane had seriously sprinted off.

Now thinking about the bizarre events made Akane's stomach turn over. She felt guilty for bumping into him, though she really shouldn't be… It was an accident anyway. Wiping her moist hands on her skirt, Akane wondered if she hurt the person. She also wondered why he had asked for her name. She really shouldn't have given it out; anything could happen on Tsushima island.

"Yup, my alarm clock went really crazy," Akane repeated, sighing.

It was the last period before lunch and just as the students were packing up, a staff member came into the room and exchanged a quick word with Reita, their language teacher. She was also Akane and Karina's home room teacher. Reita looked surprised and they went out to talk for a minute.

"Settle down, class." Reita said when she came back inside. "We have a new student joining us today." Turning towards the door, she nodded. "Come on in."

Akane was surprised. Students don't usually join in the middle of a semester. She looked to Kazuto, who looked just as shocked. Akane then switched her gaze to the figure lingering at the door. Finally, the person stepped into the classroom. Akane covered her mouth as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. It was the guy from earlier that morning. Oh fate, it just had to do that to her. Now he was obviously going to recognize her.

The white-haired boy smiled, his gold eyes darting around the classroom. "Nice to meet you all. I'm Salazar Scolle and – oh, hey, I know you! What was your name? Aka-something? Akane, was it?" He looked towards Akane.

Akane suddenly found herself the cynosure of the class, and there was an especially menacing glare Umira – the top-class student.

"U-um...Yeah..." she smiled nervously, hoping everyone would stop glaring at her. The teacher lifted her eyebrows in a surprised manner.

"Seems like you guys know each other. Well then, Chiruma. Why don't you spend lunch showing Scolle around?"

"Well, it's a pleasure to see you again, Akane-chan." Salazar said, sliding into the empty seat next to her, making other girls glare even more evilly at Akane.

"Yes, sensei." Akane sighed. She didn't feel like showing anyone around at all, but she felt like she owed him something. "Akane-_san _would be much preferred." She eyed Salazar and found herself staring at a pair of yellow eyes and a very unfamiliar face. Up close, Salazar looked quite different. Akane then started packing her things, too.

"Please, sensei," Umira said, standing up. "Could I show Scolle-san around along with Chiruma-san? I know this school better, and it would be good to introduce him to the members of the student council."

Reita nodded, allowing her as the class president and secretary of the student council to go with Akane and Salazar. "Yes, Kawasaki, you may go."

Akane frowned. Umira seemed… Jealous. Which was a pretty rare sight. But that didn't matter, Akane felt relieved that it wouldn't just be Salazar and her alone… that would be nerve wrecking considering the events in the morning. If only Karina was with her in language class… she would've been going with them too.

The bell suddenly rang, making everyone in the classroom jump. Umira instantly walked up to Akane.

"I know I sound acerbic right now, but," Umira started and took a deep breath as she looked seriously at Akane. "I am coming with you and you are not going to stop me. I am going to be the person that Salazar likes best."

Akane timidly nodded. "O-okay… It'd be awesome if you could tag alo-"

"TAG ALONG!? No! I'm not merely tagging along! Mind your words, please."

Umira literally bursted. Akane was taken aback. Kawasaki Umira didn't usually behave like that. She was always polite, nice, helpful, and all that good stuff. Akane wondered if she was alright. She could be having a mood swing. However, Umira noticed that she went overboard and pinched herself. She was about to apologize to Akane when she caught sight of Salazar's silver hair and inhaled sharply. She then forgot entirely about apologizing.

Salazar stepped towards the door, his school bag over his shoulder, and thankfully, interrupted their 'fight'. "Oiii. Are you guys coming or not? You're not going to leave me all alone to wander around in this school, are you?" he said, a teasing smile forming.

Before Akane and Umira could reply, a black-haired girl stood up, finished packing, and went to the door. "Excuse me," she said to Salazar, nodding as a sign of respect. She looked back to Umira and Akane and also dipped her head down. "I may be a bit rude saying this," the girl with black hair began, "but Kawasaki-san and Chiruma-san, you two are blocking the doorway, and you both are being too loud. Let's show some discipline, especially when we have a new student in class." And with that, she left. An awkward silent formed. The black haired girl was none other than Enaka, the girl who lived by etiquette and had all the riches. She could have been the class president instead of Umira, but turned down the position.

Akane led Salazar to the most important place in the school. Without that part of the school, they would probably die. Umira had said to start on the first floor to make things easier, and so they did. "Here is the washroom." Akane introduced when they got to the most important place in the school.

"Chiruma-san! How could you show our _very_ important guest the _restroom_?! Out of all the places in the school!" Umira reprimanded. Akane sighed and dragged Umira away from the boy.

"Go ahead in there! Explore the toilets and see if you like them. We'll be waiting. Holler if you need anything." She addressed Salazar. Turning again to face Umira, Akane frowned. "Umira-chan, what's wrong? Did I do something? Why do I feel like we are having a cold war?"

Umira looked at Akane innocently. "No, you didn't do anything. Am I doing something?" Suddenly, she facepalmed herself. "OH! I see what you mean. It's just that, you see –" she hesitated. "Don't say this to anyone but – I fangirl over silver haired guys. They remind me so much of a character in this certain comic book series!" Umira looked sorry. "I hear that I can be very mean when silver haired guys are around… Am I doing it again? I'm so sorry if I am, Akane-chan. But I just. Never. Notice. It." Umira then looked up at Akane. "If I return to that state again, just say chopsticks." Akane looked confused.

"Chopstick? What for?" Akane asked.

"It drags me back to reality. You see, when I read comics, I get so ebullient I can't even help myself cease to read them. However, there's this thing that my dad performs. Sometimes I would bring my comic books to the dining table and my dad would use chopsticks to slap my arm. It does hurt a little but it's actually really advantageous. Now, all my dad needs to say is 'chopsticks' before I drop the book and conceal my arms while unlatching the book. After that, I instanl return to phenomenon. It's now a knack." Umira said, without stopping between the long words for breath. Akane wondered – again, as she always did – how Umira remembered all those words. She was a straight-A student, but using such big words normally seemed like hard work to Akane. Umira didn't even seem to notice that she was using words that were hard to understand. She just casually brushed her wispy purple hair away from her red glasses and nodded towards Akane, with a look knowing look.

"I know it sounds abstract but really, it works. One time, my after even successfully made me fall back into reality while I was reading the penultimate chapter of the comic! THE PENULTIMATE CHAPTER! Seriously!" Umira had literally screamed the last few words. Then she looked at Akane, who shook her head, dumbfounded.

...

People were screaming, fighting and helplessly fleeing. A group of people dressed in black were effortlessly fighting.

Tsuna looked at the war outside. He instantly took off and landed a surprise attack on two of them that were fighting side by side. Tsuna had flown right in between them and kicked both of them twice and upper-cutted one of them, sending the person off. The person that was left recovered from the stun and aimed for a grabbed the person's incoming weak fist and twisted the arm and was just about to kick the person when from the corner of his eye, he noticed a silent wave of a hand. The person instantly jumped away and high into the sky, skillfully grabbing onto the edge of a roof, despite his now-probably-sprained arm and vanished. When Tsuna looked around, the others had gone too.

A man with jet-black hair walked up to him, smiling. "You must be Sawada Tsunayoshi, the 10th Vongola Boss, husband of Miuka Haru, father of Sawada Kazuto, Sawada Karina, and Sawada Yuriko. A pleasure to meet you."

Tsuna stiffened as he heard all this information. It wasn't abnormal for a mafia to know all this, but to state the information just like that… it could be considered a threat or a bribe. Tsuna instantly took his X-Burner stance. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

The man chuckled. "Oh, I don't want too much, really. All I need is power."

"_Who are you?_"

"I'm terribly sorry. We haven't met properly yet, have we? My name is – you really don't need to know. And again, as I have said, I need power. If I am correct, your family has been looking through files of young adolescents and have been deciding to recruit certain ones. What I am worried about, is that _your_ family is taking candidates from what we have chosen. I really hate to see young people waver between choosing families to join. Of course, being me, I'd like all of them to join my family. So please, for the time being, stop recruiting members. Or trouble will come upon you all." The man was gleeful.

"In that case, I'm afraid you'll have to leave, sir. If you know about the Vongola, you should know our reputation too. What's stopping me from going right ahead and kicking you home instead of all this nice talk? You hurt a guardian of mine." Tsuna scoffed, glaring at the ill-meaning man. What a nuisance. "Are you part of a new family?"

"I'm not part of a new family, Sawada Tsunayoshi. I _am_ the new family. I control them. I am the boss of that new family. And that family has already killed hundreds of your men. They were such hopeless people. All I wanted to do was to talk with you." he gestured behind him to the corpses in a careless way. "Are you sure you don't want to surrender? I am trying to show some compassion and mercy here."

"Those people you killed. I'm showing enough generosity already. If you leave in the count of five, I will not touch a hair on your body for now. But if you do not, I will not hesitate to kill you." Tsuna's voice turned stonily cold and his eyes narrowed, meaning it.

The man suddenly stepped towards the side, as Hibari charged past with his tonfas. "I would also advise you to control your so called 'Guardians'," The man commented lightly, straightening his jacket. "It's not mannerly to charge at people without warning. Etiquette, Sawada, is quite important. Even if you are a mafia boss."

"One." Tsuna muttered, anger boiling inside of him as he turned to face the other way. Hibari spat on the ground before standing up. However, he knew the tradition very well. Hibari contained his blood lust and walked to Tsuna, facing the man but making no move, nor sound. He was just there to make sure the man would not do something stupid to Tsuna while he was facing the other way.

"So, do we have an agreement?" The man pressed.

"Two." Tsuna said, knowing that it was against the mafia rules to just start fights when they were making no attempt to hurt him or at least not making any more attempts to hurt any of his family members. He had to give him five seconds to take revenge.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, are you sure about this? You are making a great mistake that will cause you your life." The man still did not leave.

"Three." Tsuna's voice grew louder. "I will find you, and make you pay for this."

"Oh, you will regret this, Sawada. You must understand, it is all for the better. When our family gets what we want, you can go right on ahead and recruit members again." The man was as stubborn and as clueless as a rock. He had no idea what Tsuna could do to him… But neither did Tsuna know what the man could do to him.

"Four!" Tsuna shouted, wanting to punch the man in the face badly.

"Well then, let me leave with a warning. If you recruit any members in the next six years, my family will not leave you alone. We will be your nightmares."

"Five!" Tsuna hollered and he spun around. His gloves were blazing with flames and aimed for a punch. Hibari beat him to it and managed to whack the air close to the man. Though he had dodged the blow, Hibari noticed a wound had opened on the man's face before he vanished. Then the man was gone, just like that.

...

Gokudera tried yet again to ignite his flame for the lock. Tsuna had locked him inside. Gokudera yearned to know what was happening while he was helplessly wasting time. Gokudera knew that Tsuna knew that he was going to go out and help, which was probably the reason why Tsuna had locked him inside. To delay him. Gokudera now winced as he tried for the hundredth time to ignite the flame, but somehow, the ring would not spit out a single waver. Pounding the door with his good arm, Gokudera then tried kicking it open.

"I'm such a failure...Unable to protect Ju-daimei…" Gokudera muttered to himself.

"Oy, Gokudera. Stop being such a let down. Tsuna's out there with Hibari and your flame circuit inside your ring arm is damaged. Your flame circulation needs to be reconnected. Right now, all you can do is try and make that deep wound heal quick- and stop it from bleeding so much. I'm afraid that you are to grow unconscious in around five minutes if this continues."

Gokudera jumped, but recognized the voice as Reborn's. "That's very helpful. But do I look like I care?" Gokudera's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"You won't be able to do anything if you don't stop the bleeding first. That's all I got for you." Reborn then disappeared through the windpipe. Gokudera scowled and threw a bomb at the door. Unfortunately, it did not budge. Gokudera knew Reborn was telling the truth. Even ten minutes after from when he got cut severely by one of the people that dressed in black – one that was using an axe - Gokudera still could feel the incessant trickle of the warm, sticky blood rolling down his arm. He was starting to feel a little light headed. He really should take Reborn's advice. Altering his attention to his wound, Gokudera hastily took off his work blouse, revealing a short sleeved shirt. He then grabbed a bottle of water-stored in cupboards-and cursed silently as he dumped water over his wound. Gokudera tore both sleeves of his work blouse and wrapped one sleeve around his gnash. It took more energy than Gokudera thought would have taken to perform these actions. Just as Gokudera threw the emptied bottle across the room, Tsuna entered. He instantly walked over to Gokudera, tensing up as he saw the puddle of watery blood on the floor.

Gokudera straightened up. "Sorry about the mess, ju-daimei-" Gokudera looked at Tsuna, who was back to his normal self again and apologized.

"Gokudera-kun, I thought you would've gotten out already... How come you're still trapped in here? And never mind the mess, why didn't you go to the health care? I thought you finally took my advice for once!" Tsuna said before Gokudera could say another sentence.

"Sorry, Ju-daimei... I tried to get out and help but my flame wouldn't ignite for some reasons..." Gokudera started. He felt the loss of blood heavy upon him. Gokudera couldn't help himself anymore and stumbled against the wall his head pounding. Steadying himself, he saw Tsuna rush up to help him.

"That Reborn! I told him to come and help you!" Tsuna muttered as he walked with one of Gokudera's good arm across his shoulder. They soon arrived at the health room. Luckily, Ipin was inside, carefully mixing up another tube of antibiotics. Tsuna looked at Ipin with a warm smile. Ten years ago, she was still a noodle delivering girl. However, once Ipin got to University, she chose to become a doctor and took it as her major. Now she was working for the Vongola and sometimes she gets called to a hospital.

"Ah! Tsuna-nii!" Ipin looked up, sounding delighted. If Ipin knew about the fight that had just taken place, she didn't show a sign of it. Her gaze swivelled to Gokudera's arm. "Gokudera-nii, you're hurt! Come sit down!" Ipin talked in a high voice but a calm one. Gokudera thanked Tsuna briefly before sitting down at a bed.

"Hold out your arm." Ipin instructed and Gokudra didn't object. Tsuna noticed that he looked pale and tired. Thinking about the mess on the floor, Tsuna grimaced. He must have lost a decent amount of blood.

Ipin took off the blouse gently. Tsuna shivered when he saw the wound. The bleeding seemed to have stopped but around the gnash, the skin was purple and swollen. Ipin squeezed Gokudera's arm gently and blood oozed out again. Ipin humphed and grabbed a bottle and a cotton swab. Skillfully, she poured the liquid in the bottle onto the swab, which swelled in size. Ipin dabbed the wound with the swab without hesitation and Tsuna could see the folds on Gokudera's forehead crease. Tsuna held his breath. Gokudera didn't make even a yelp of noise. He simply shifted his weight and leaned on the bed post heavily.

"He'll be okay." Ipin addressed Tsuna. Tsuna looked up instantly. "Okay... It's okay, I'll stay for a bit..." Tsuna felt that it was partly his fault that Gokudera was like this. He had to stay a little longer at least. Ipin merely nodded and twirled off to a shelf.

"I'm really fine, Ju-daimei. You still have lots of work to do." Gokudera spoke through gritted teeth. Already though, the swelling had gone down quote a bit.

"Nah, I'll stay." Tsuna said and Gokudera had that watery puppy face again.

"J-Ju-daimei! I'm so sorry! I couldn't be by your side when I needed you but you are by my side even when I do not need it! This just reminds me how bad a right handed man I am!"

"U-uh... It's really fine!" Tsuna said, smiling uneasily. Ipin then returned with a piece of cloth and on one side it was yellow. She then held still Gokudera's arm while she wrapped the cloth around, yellow face down. That's when the door busted open and in came Hibari.

Ipin jerked up, causing the cloth to tighten and Gokudera to swear.

"Twenty-one men died." He said simply whole giving Gokudera a look that was cold and meaningless. "Toughen up, Hayato." Was all he said before leaving. Tsuna sighed. Hibari has probably cleaned up the corpses. He felt bad for his agents and frustration came upon him. This new family... He shook his head. No use thinking about it now.

Ipin pinned the cloth with a paperclip and grabbed a piece of blanket for Gokudera.

"You might want to rest for a while." Ipin suggested. Gokudera looked relieved as he climbed into the covers without a second thought. He instantly fell asleep.

...

"I don't know… we shouldn't stop, but if it endangers the people in our family…" Tsuna said, sighing, his head in his hands.

Reborn jumped up and kicked him across the face. "Of course you don't give up, no-good-Tsuna. Think of how loyal those people who died out there were; they would rather risk their lives than go to the other family. Now go search for the new candidates before that family steals them all." He said matter-of-factly.

Tsuna groaned but knew Reborn was right. He shouldn't waver like that. If the other family came again, Tsuna would definitely fight them. There really wasn't anything to worry about... Right? Tsuna shook his head. They weren't backing down because of some stupid new family. Of course not. If they wanted to make them back down, they'd have to try harder. The best way to get revenge was to do the exact opposite of what they had warned them against doing – they'd have to choose the 11th generation now. Though it was still quite early, Tsuna had the perfect plan to get candidates. He couldn't help but smile at his genius. The people that came today were definitely going to hate this.

-—END OF CHAPTER TWO—-

**Regi: Merp. This chapter was mainly Philek's (or whatever you want to be called) writing. SO APPLAUSE FOR HER. The next chapter should be (hopefully) uploaded by next Friday… hopefully…**

**Ailurophilek: Don't go around giving me random nicknames. Anyways, hope you guys are liking it so far… I know that the fight wasn't really amusing but… it's gonna get intense somewhen soon. Oops, spoilers. But-oh-well.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Three**

Tsuna flipped through the pages frantically, counting them. They still needed a lot more of these flyers to make the unlock notice them. Tsuna knew it wasn't safe to hand out flyers telling people about recruiting people but he also knew that it was the best way to get back on the new family silently. They were going to hold a competition for the new generation. Gokudera had suggested to go to Tokyo to hold the competition, due to more people for candidates and possibly gain even more fame. Tsuna was iffy about it. He wondered if Tokyo was too... Big. He was uncertain about how the new family would react for Tokyo really is the centre of Japan. However, Yamamoto had told hi2m firmly to do so when he came to the Vongola and found out what had happened. His anger was more than obvious and even now, after four days, Yamamoto still is holding a grudge.

Yamamoto had changed quite a bit-ever after his dad died. He suddenly turned into a quiet person, though he still talks when needed. However, he started being not all that happy looking and for a while he looked almost looked depressed. After that, Yamamoto recovered (which took three years) and got over his dad. He started opening up again and was able to laughed things off. Though he made progress, Yamamoto can hold grudges for a long time, if he wish it.

"Tsuna, what's wrong?" It was Yamamoto, looking at Tsuna sternly with a hand on Tsuna's shoulder. Tsuna jerked up, coming out of his haze.

"Ah... Nothing." Tsuna said. Yamamoto grinned when he realized that Tsuna had finally 'awaken'.

"Really? I have been calling your name for didn't reply till I had to slap you on the shoulder." Yamamoto said in a light tone.

Tsuna rubbed his temples and felt a felt ache behind his eyes.

"Sorry Yamamoto-kun. I guess it's been tiring." He pressed the start button on the photocopier and made another 50 pages of the flyer. Tsuna watched the paper go in and out and in and out. Yamamoto was drawing new ones so that they styles of the flyers would be different.

"I really don't think this is acceptabl-." Yamamoto was about to tell Tsuna what he wanted to do when Lambo barged in.

"Tsuna! Sorry I'm late!" He shouted, stretching his hands out. "Here, give me those flyers, I go tape them everywhere right now."

Tsuna frowned at Yamomato but he turned towards Lambo.

"Don't sweat it. You can take your time."

"Well, I'm ready now so just give them to me." Lambo said that in a laid back way. Tsuna shrugged and gave the flyers to him.

"Thanks, Lambo. You're a great help." Tsuna curled one side of his lip up and looked genuine. Lambo stopped as he was receiving the flyer. He looked at Tsuna and stared. He looked like the Tsuna he knew twenty years ago when Tsuna made that expression.

"Lambo-kun! Let's go already!" Ipin was standing by the door and broke Lambo's trance. Lambo nodded and took off with the flyers.

"They look fantastic together, don't they?" Yamamoto mused as he handed his newly finished drawing to Tsuna for photocopying. Ipin and Lambo were engaged, and they were very compatible looking. Tsuna smiled.

"They sure do. Now, Yamamoto-kun, as you were saying...?"

...

"HE'S HOLDING A MAFIA COMPETITION?!"

Karina raised an eyebrow, her dad was holding a competition for 11th generation? She'd go for sure.

Akane frowned. "What competition?"

"Vongola! Mafia! They're holding a competition for the 11th generation! Ugh! I can't believe my dad didn't even tell me! Wait but look- An individual cannot qualify until they get enough people for all the rings..." Karina then looked to Akane silently. Akane fidgeted.

"Kari-chan, calm down! And hold my new Stuffie! What do you mean by mafia and Vongola? You aren't joining, are you? Mafia… It's all dangerous and stuff..."

Karina took a deep breath, ready to explain everything.

"So you know how my dad kind of goes out on so called business trips he is actually kind of a mafia-ish thing boss so like he fights people and sort of protects the world-ish and I guess he's holding a competition now for the Vongola family eleventh generation which is the family he's in because there are different families and by generation I mean like different bosses and it's all very complicated and such so will you please join? Please, please _please_ with a cherry on top?" Karina said in one big breath.

Akane frowned. "B-but… It's the mafia… I mean, it's dangerous… wait, are you pulling another prank on me?"

Karina tugged on her friend's shirt. "Please! I beg you! It's my dream! And my dad's the boss so he'll definitely take care of us! I promise, at least come try out with me!"

Karina could tell that Akane was sacrificing a lot to do this, and she wasn't sure whether or not to believe her. But Akane should trust her... right? She was loyal AND gullible, so Akane should believe Kari.

"I mean, aren't mafias the ones that kill people?" Akane said after a moment.

"Oh, Aka-chan! They protect the world! Sure, they fight but… I can't believe people think they are bad...Okay… Maybe you're right. Some mafia families does go around causing havoc but not the Vongola! As far as I know, my dad is trying his best to keep peace and is in league with the police forces. They are kind of like the mafias of Tsushima island and this is their territory. So any other mafia family that comes and create chaos would be driven out by them… They're really just protecting us." Karina said.

Akane was silent for another minute. Then she exclaimed. "OH! SO THAT'S WHERE IT'S FROM! I knew I heard the name 'Vongola' before! They're the ones that helped capture a whole entire group of criminals two years ago, no? It was all over the papers!"

Karina broke into a grin. "Yes, that's it! So will you form a team with me?"

Akane looked a little hesitant again. "You mean… Fights and all that…?" Akane spoke silently. But then she spoke louder. "You mean… Protecting the world and wielding rings?" Akane's eyes were suddenly sparkling. "Why yes, Karina, yes! It would be worth it… Right?"

Karina laughed. "Yes, Akane! It would be _worthy_!" 'Now I just have to find five more people to join and we'd qualify!' She then thought and stretched out a fist. "You're in then?" Akane's eyes gleamed as they met Karina's. She punched Karina's fist, hard.

…..

"KAZU! KAZU! GET DOWN! GUESS WHAT I SAW TODAY!" Kari hollered, ignoring her mother, who was telling her to take off her shoes. Kazu ran down the stairs, slipping on the last step, and landed on his back. He rubbed his head, and his blue eyes looked into Karina's brown ones. With a sudden realization, Karina saw just how much Kazuto resembled their father. They looked practically identical, except Kazu's hair color was more like Haru's.

"Kazu! I saw a flyer near school today! And it said that Vongola is holding a competition for the 11th Generation members!"

Kazuto stood up slowly, wincing in pain, not fully understanding his sister due to her high-pitched voice when she got excited. "So? A flyer? So what?"

"A VONGOLA FLYER! I SAW LAMBO-SAN PUTTING IT UP! FOR THE 11TH GENERATION COMPETITION! AND I'M ENTERING WITH YORI AND AKANE!"

It took a second before something in her twin's head clicked, and he realized what she was talking about. "You're entering in the 11th Generation competition?" Kazu asked, smiling brightly. However, something about his voice and manner sent chills up and down both Haru and Karina's spines.

"I'm going to pick up Yuri now!" Haru said nervously, and quickly stepped outside, slamming the door shut. An awkward silence filled the entire house while Kazuto smiled at his sister. Karina blinked. Kazu almost never got really, truly angry, but if she remembered correctly from about an year ago, when he got angry, he smiled just like that beforehand.

"U-um, onii-chan~" Kari said, almost in a whining tone. She never called Kazuto 'onii-chan', unless to get on his good side. "I'll, um… go upstairs to d-d-do homewo –"

"YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Kazuto roared, slamming his hand against the wall. The force of his punch rattled the windows on the first floor. Karina was stunned. She was never scared of her twin – but angry Kazu was a different Kazu.

"O-onii-chan, ca-calm dow –"

"HOW DARE YOU, SAWADA KARINA?! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO GET INVOLVED IN THE VONGOLA MAFIA BUSINESS?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'RE GETTING YOURSELF INTO? DO YOU?! DAD IS ALREADY IN THE VONGOLA BUSINESS AS THE BOSS, AND THAT CAN'T BE UNDONE, BUT IF YOU JOIN, DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO US?! MOTHER, YURI, AND I – WE'LL ALL BECOME TARGETS TO OTHER MAFIA FAMILIES! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE TROUBLE YOU'RE PLACING ALL OF US IN?!"

Karina was still stunned and looked down, unable to look into her brother's piercing blue eyes. Why did he even have blue eyes? Why didn't he have brown eyes like the rest of their family? Karina tried to think of any random thing she could to keep her mind off of her current situation.

"KARINA, LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING!"

Karina didn't budge, and backed up a step, wanting to escape.

"THAT WAS AN ORDER, KARINA. LOOK. AT. ME!"

She looked up against her will. Her brother's face showed pure rage. He was breathing heavily and glared at her with such a look that she felt trapped. Kazuto's punch had made a dent in the wall, and parts of the it crumbled down onto the floor.

"Karina, do you understand what will happen if you join the Vongola? Don't be so selfish, and think of our whole family's safety," Kazu said in a quieter voice, though not by much.

"W-well, if I go into the Vongola to train, I'll be a-able to protect you all…" Kari muttered. She was shaking. Her brother was fearsome and has not treated her like that before. He had _never_ told her that his anything was an order.

"KARI! THAT'S NOT THE POINT! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE STAKES OF JOINING THE MAFIA! IT'S NOT THAT EASY!" Kazuto once again started to shout.

"Why don't you fight me to find out who's stronger?! Why do you have to take charge of my life?!" Kazuto was weaker than Karina, since he never really wanted to train. So if she beat him… Anger was filling her stun.

"BECAUSE I'M YOUR OLDER BROTHER AND I'M RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU! AND YOU WANT TO FIGHT, DON'T YOU? THEN COME AT ME!" Kazuto roared. Karina noticed that his brother's eyes had turned yet another color- orange and they were wild and unfocused. Karina gasped, backing away. Her back bumped into the door and her hand closed around the knob. A golden flame appeared on Kazuto's forehead. His biking gloves were wrapped in Sky flames as well. Kari yet again flinched. Kazu had never been so violent; she didn't even know he could summon Sky flames. Karina was truly stunned now, her anger had turned into complete surprise. She couldn't even do that, no matter how hard she tried. If she fought him now, she would surely lose, and he had guilt-tripped her way too much that she felt ashamed for her actions.

"I'm sorry," Karina murmured.

"THEN GO TO YOUR ROOM AND STAY THERE! I FORBID YOU TO THE VONGOLA COMPETITION. GO!"

As he watched Kari go upstairs, Kazuto's rage faded along with the sky flames. He blinked and was dumbfounded. What had just happened? Kazuto couldn't remember anything at all and felt extremely tired, it was as if he fell asleep and just woke up. Kazuto thought for a moment, then shrugged and remembered that he was getting ready to go biking, but somehow no longer had the energy to. He also remembered that Haru was supposed to be there... When did she leave? Kazuto then shook his head. It happened sometimes, when he had those blackout moments though they were rare and he never took them too seriously. His eyes drifted to the dent in the wasn't there before. What in the world happened? Feeling way too tired to care, Kazuto squinted his eyes, which were blurred by tiredness. He probably overworked or something and his head wasn't clear enough to stay awake any longer. Swaying to the sofa across the dining table, Kazuto collapsed on it and began sleeping immediately.

Meanwhile, Kazuto's twin sister was upstairs, holding a large grudge against him. What he said did hurt. Now that Karina recovered from the shock, anger boiled inside of her. It made her want to shout in her brothers face. Standing up, Karina put on a stubborn face. Of course she wasn't going to give up her dream just like that. No, if Kazuto wanted to keep her imprisoned he would have to work hard. She shuddered. Angry Kazuto was so much different from happy Kazuto.

When Karina went stomping downstairs, her anger faded away. She saw her brother sleeping. Affection swept through her. She really understood his thoughts. But he was being selfish if he tried to take control of her life. Sure, Karina understood that it was a risk. But it was her life. Silently, Karina went upstairs again.

...

"Hey guys! I'm home!" Tsuna called out as he stepped into his house. Instead of the usual cheerful mood his family usually exerted, there was an nervous feeling. Haru practically ran to Tsuna, reaching him before anyone else could, and they were moving slower than usual.

"Tsu-kun…" Haru started, "Try not to… upset Kazuto or Karina today."

"What, did they have a fight again?"

"I'm guessing that was what happened. I went to pick up Yuri before the fight broke out. Something made Kari very angry. She punched the wall," Haru pointed to the dent in the wall.

"What makes you think Kazu didn't do it?" Tsuna mused, thinking that it was just one of those minor sibling fights they had all the time. Yuriko ran over to him and hugged him while he picked her up.

"Well, he never really gets angry, does he? But something probably happened to him too; he should have gone to apologize to Kari already, like he usually does. However, he acts as if nothing has happened at all."

Tsuna frowned and set Yuriko down. Once there was something odd with Kazuto, there was probably a disaster. He went up the stairs and rapped on his older daughter's door.

"GO AWAY KAZU!" she yelled.

Tsuna tried the doorknob. Locked. "Kari, it's me."

Crashes were heard along with drawers opening and closing until the door was flung open. "YES! OTOO-SAN! YOU'RE FINALLY BACK!" Karina hugged her father tightly. He chuckled and pulled her off – noticing that the rim of her eyes were red.

Tsuna pursed his lips. "Now, Kari, this is serious. What happened when your mother went to pick Yuri up?"

Kari frowned and stuck out her tongue. "Nothing much." Karina lied. The truth was that she really wanted her father to prick the truth out of her so he would be more interested in the topic. It was a common tactic she used. Then what she knew was coming came.  
>"Don't lie Karina, tell me what happened. You've been crying."<p>

Karina didn't expect that her father could tell the last point he made but she smiled when her father knew – again – that she was lying. She was embarrassed about crying. Karina shook her head. "I wasn't crying."

Tsuna lifted his eyebrows and reached out a hand. He tugged gently on Karina's sleeve. Rubbing his fingers, he looked at Karina.

"Your sleeve is wet. I could tell, and it just got proven." Tsuna said.

"Okay, okay. Well, I saw Lambo-san putting up these flyers, and though they seemed to be about some shopping store's 11th sale competition, I saw the Vongola emblem in the middle, and realized that it was a competition for the Vongola 11th Gen. Then I came back home and told Sawada Kazuto what happened and he started yelling at me and ora-"

"Dinner!"Haru called out, interrupting her.

"Tell me the rest later, okay?" Tsuna said to Karina. Then he led her down the stairs to the dinner table.

...

During dinner, the household was abnormally quiet. Finally, halfway through everyone's meal, Haru couldn't stand it any longer. She set her chopsticks down on the table with a loud bang, startling everyone.

"What is the matter with all of you?! Ever since Kari came home, something has been wrong."

"Oh, so you're saying it's _my_ fault?" Karina said, stabbing her rice.

Kazuto looked up, completely baffled. "I-I don't know...Karina has just been ignoring me so I thought I did something wrong… I didn't know though so I don't know how I should apologize and what to apologize for. I rea-"

Karina cut him off by pushing her chair out and standing up. "Sawada Kazuto." She said, her eyes burning with blame and anger. Karina was trying to keep calm, anyone could tell. Her voice shook from the strain and if anyone pricked her, she was sure to explode. The family held their breath. "_How can you do this?_" By then, Karina's eyes were filled with tears. "Kazuto." She choked. "You are _not_ stopping me. _At all_." With that, Karina turned shoulder and walked upstairs. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. She couldn't believe that her very own brother had just sputtered out such a big lie. It was unforgivable. After him punching the wall, him burning the ceiling with all his burning hair, and him yelling and spitting in her face, he claimed that he _didn't know _what was wrong. Hatred filled within her. Yes, she was his twin, but so is he. Him being four minutes older _does not_ mean he is more responsible, nor at any more authorities. If Kazuto really wanted to play it that way, then why doesn't he go around bossing people in the same grade that are even a day younger and blab about how he is more responsible just because he is a month older than another guy? It was pathetic, what Kazuto said. He made it sound as if she were at least four years younger than he is and hadfour years less experience than he does. Karina reached her room and slammed the door shut.

Haruhi frowned.

"Kazuto, what did you do?" She asked softly, being the perfect mother.

Kazuto, who looked nothing more than bewildered, shook his head in silence.

"I'll take care of this," Tsuna muttered in Haru's ear, and continued on with his dinner.

Kazuto, too, finished his dinner and excused himself. Tsuna, Haru, and Yuriko were left in an awkward silence.

...

Tsuna went up to Kari. "Can you tell me everything now?"

Karina sighed. "So I told Kazuto about joining the Vongola and showed him the flyer, and he exploded like a volcano. He literally did. I swear I saw smoke coming out of his ears. And dad, did you know that he could summon sky flames?"

"What? Kazuto can summon sky flames?!" Tsuna exclaimed, though Karina motioned for him to keep his voice down. If he could really do that, he would make a wonderful Vongola boss. Pity he didn't want anything to do with mafia business…

"Yes! I swear I saw them on his forehead and gloves! He was the one who made that dent in the wall!" Karina then took a moment and swore colorfully. "Even I can't summon sky flames! Da-ad! Have you been privately teaching Kazuto?"

Tsuna gave his daughter a sharp look when she used many swear words. "No, I haven't. He must have Vongola blood…He should consider joining." Tsuna looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Hello? _I'm_ the one who actually wants to join!"

Tsuna looked at Karina. "Is that what this is about again? Him keeping you from becoming a mafia, and you going the opposite?"

"Sort of…" Karina muttered. But it was more than that. Her brother has never treated her like such before. "Except this time… He was spitting in my face. Dad… You'll never know what he said… It hurts. He's saying all the 'I'm the bigger on' stuff and trying to take control of my life. I-I… Really don't like that. He also said that I was being selfish… He forbade me to join! He _forbade _me!" Karina shook her head. "He's no senpai, no sensei, and no oto-sama and also not a oga-sama. I'm not listening to what he says. He certainly does not have the power to 'forbid' me to do anything. Dad, all that I can handle, you must understand. But it's just that he is acting as if nothing had happened." Karina broke into laughter. "He is acting as if nothing in the whole sh*tty world is wrong! How can I get over that, dad, how can I!?"

"Calm yourself down, Kari, and watch your language. I think I know what is happening." Tsuna instructed. He then looked into Karina's eyes. "It must be because of the flames he summoned. I believe this is the first time. When I summoned my flames for the first time, I was filled with remorse and regret. I was shot dead, Karina." Karina gasped. She didn't know that he was shot dead. She wondered how she never knew. She did hear her dad's first flame summoning plenty of times. But he has never mentioned anything about being dead. Yes, she knew that some kind of special thing was injected into him for his flames to come out, but not the dead part. Karina shook her head.

"How does thi-"

"Listen." Tsuna continued. "I was a wimpy kid, and always wanted to propose to a girl. However, I never had the gut. Then one day, just after I decided to let my wimpy wits win over and miss a great chance of asking her out, I got shot. Reborn shot me. And I was dead. I remember dying. I remember regretting. Regretting about how I should have asked her out. Really. After that, I didn't know what happened. It was as if there was a hole in my head. A blank space of memory. When I came to my senses again, I was standing in front of the girl. I was standing in front of the girl in my _underpants_.

"Ooh! Ooh! Was it oga-san?" Karina interrupted.

"Kari, pay attention. And no, it wasn't. It was-" Tsuna suddenly stopped talking. A pained look clouded over his eyes. "Another girl. Anyways, that's not the point. When I first summoned sky flames, I forgot everything. That probably happened to Kazuto too, except he didn't whip out Sky flames the last time he was angry... and he forgot everything that happened too..."

Karina stared at her dad intently. He held her gaze steadily. Tsuna was telling the truth "Whatever. I'm going to join and that's that. I bet when I get super angry, I can summon sky flames too. After all, we are twins. Dad, you will let me join, won't you? You will keep me in for the team, right?" Karina was getting a little nervous. She wanted to join so badly that she can't afford losing the competition.

Tsuna's eyes gleamed. "I won't stop you from trying out. In fact, you are welcome to. I agree that you have to decide your own future. But Karina, your dream must be fulfilled by yourself. When at the tournament, my role is the tenth Vongola boss, not your father. You must understand that if I were to asses anyone, it'd better be fair and square."

Karina widened her eyes. "What!? But I'm your daughter!"

"You must learn to grab onto chances and work hard to earn something. Karina, don't be like I was, missing so many opportunities." Tsuna said and kindly patted her on the shoulder. "Well then, train hard for the next three weeks. After that, we are heading to Tokyo."

Karina was left gaping at the door, after Tsuna leg the room. So that's how it is. Nobody in the family supported her. It was common sense for her dad to give his spot to her, after Kazuto rejected. That made Karina extremely angry. She stood up and flipped her hair to one side.

"Fine! I'll show you what I can do! It's just beating a few other teams, no big deal." Karina growled and cracked her knuckles. She was ready to fight for the rings.

**Regi: Sorry guys! I know this was a pretty boring chapter… but it should get more interesting within the next few or so.**

**Ailurophilek: What? I thought it was pretty interesting… Kazuto was **_**mad.**_ ***Shudder* Scary Kazuto. Btw, sorry for the late and short chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

Akane sat on the outside of the protection wall that surrounded the roof of their school. She was swinging her legs, which almost touched the fence that rose high up from the back of the school. The fence's purpose was to protect people from falling over. Now chewing her lip, Akane looked down through a gap in the fence. It was definitely big enough for a person to fall through, so why did they even bother to put the fence up anyway? That aside, why wouldn't they even bother to fix the fence? But Akane shook her head. Nobody would want to climb over the waist high wall that surrounded the roof of the school and sit on the little strip of concrete with nothing to help their balance.

"Kari-chan?" Akane, her voice shaking a bit, turned to her friend sitting beside her who was leaning against the wall behind their backs.

"What? Don't tell me you're scared." Karina said sarcastically, taking a bite of her sandwich. She seemed to be angrier than usual, but that was probably just Akane.

"Of course not. I… just… It's just that nobody else wanted to join you - us, so far." Akane said, avoiding her gaze.

"You didn't have to remind me." Karina admitted, though with even more venom in her voice. Akane thought that maybe they should just give up trying to find people to go to a mafia competition with them. She felt weird when she asked people and they gave her weird looks.

"You? A mafia? Competition? On your team?" A certain someone had said. "No, thank you." After that, the girl had left and Akane felt as if some rumors about her was going on… Ones that she didn't know about. Of course, she didn't want to know about them anyways, she already had enough to deal with.

Ever since she got into high school, Akane had made herself an enemy of a few individuals. It all happened very quickly. It was the beginning of the term, and there were some great games that the school had organized. The higher grades prepared rewards and all were exciting and people were buzzing. It was then that Akane had won a game of 'whack the mole' and beat four other girls who were playing against her team. After that, the girls held a grudge on her and unfortunately, they were the 'queen girls' of the school. They then warned her not to do anything stupid anymore and started spreading rumours about her. Of course, since they were the popular kids, their rumours spread quite quickly. If it wasn't for the Sawada twins, Yoritomo, and sometimes Umira, Akane would be a loner. She had wondered how people could be so childish even in 8th grade.

"Akane! Kari!"

Akane jerked up when Yoritomo called their names. She whipped her head around and wavered on the step out of dizziness, gripping the edge of it to regain balance.

"What is it?" Karina asked, clearly annoyed about how he had disturbed the peace.

"What are you two doing here? There's only two minutes of lunch break left!" He said casually, tipping his head towards the door that lead back into the school.

"E-eh? Two minutes left? But it's only been… like… ten minutes!" Akane said.

Yori took in the whole sight: two girls sitting on a narrow strip of concrete, with the wind blowing hard and them seeming ready to jump off at any second. Well, maybe not Kari. She was casually leaning back against the fence and eating her sandwich.

"...Goodness, chibi, were you trying to commit suicide?" There was a pause before Yoritomo said anything to Akane.

"Of course not!" Akane said, feeling exasperated. She started crawling back over the waist high wall and cautiously stepping onto the school's actual roof. "And that is off topic, and don't call me chibi!" She frowned.

"Okay, okay. Stop arguing, you two. We need to get to class now!" Karina interrupted. "It's like you two have some secret relationship. Like you two are flirting constantly, every single day through these small arguments that none of you have with others," Karina added with an evil smile, deliberately glancing at Akane's light brown eyes and nudging her towards Yoritomo to provoke her.

"What!? No! I wasn't flirting!" Akane exclaimed, face red, letting the provocation succeed. She felt even more exasperated. Yoritomo didn't say a word. He just shrugged ever so lightly, and turned to walk back through the door and into the school.

"Wait! Yori!" Karina shouted. "I need to ask you something!" She then chased after him. Akane paused, knowing what Karina was up to and groaned. "It's not going to work. We've already asked so many people. Who wants to become a mafia when they can have a bright future and lead a great life?" Why did she even believe Karina about this whole mafia business? Why couldn't she be less gullible? If it was all some cruel joke from Kari, Akane felt that she would kill her.

Karina stopped in her tracks. "Akane, you, after all these days –"

"It's only been two days, Kari-chan."

"Whatever! After all these days, _you never asked Yoritomo to join us!_"

"Eh? I was supposed to?"

"Actually, yes! Yori is actually someone I, er, _we_ trust and know! A perfect candidate! Besides, I already told Kazuto that Yoritomo would be joining us."

Akane facepalmed. "Karina!" She whined, drawing out the vowels.

"Shut up, Akane. Oi, Yori! You will join us, the mafia?" It came out of Karina's mouth more like a statement... With a slightly lifted tone at the very end.

Then the bell rang, drowning out Yoritomo's response. But through his facial expressions, Akane could tell that he agreed. She mentally facepalmed herself, wondering how she got such weird friends who would agree to anything, and how she got herself into all this mess, then ran to Chemistry.

...

"Umira-chan~" Akane heard Karina's voice say behind her. Her dark-haired friend would only say such a thing in such a sweet voice when... She facepalmed herself – this time not mentally – and loudly. The whole class turned to her, and looked at her glaring red forehead.

Karina shot Akane her best evil eye, and continued to whisper to the class president.

"Chiruma-san, do you need to go to the nurse?" the teacher and many students asked Akane. _Be quiet, be quiet, be quiet!_ was what she thought. She needed to hear what Kari was saying to Umira's. "Um… yes. No, wait! I mean no! I meant no!" Despite her protests, what was said could not be undone. They picked Salazar, out of all the people in her class ("He needs to know where it is anyways!" they had said.), to take her to the nurse's office. Surprisingly, Umira didn't follow when Akane was hustled out with Salazar. Was what Karina said to Umira so interesting that it distracted Umira from silver-haired people? Akane sighed, wondering how she could have hurt herself so badly.

They were walking along the corridors of the school in silence for a while when Salazar suddenly spoke.

"Akane-chan?" Salazar said, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Akane-_san_," she corrected, and started to walk down the stairs, hands rubbing the red spot on her head.

"Anyways, I just wanted to ask something…"

"What?" Akane snapped, though not intentionally. Her head hurt way too badly.

"Are you crazy?" At this, she turned to him.

What? Do I seem crazy to you?" Akane laughed, annoyed. "There's more rumours about me now?" Akane expected Salazar to laugh but he didn't, which made Akane feel uneasy.

"Um... Actually, yeah." Salazar said after a long pause. Akane then knew that what she just said as a joke was stupid and actual.

"Oh... It happens..." Akane said, trailing off. She then forced a smile and shrugged. "What did they say?"

"Nothing, really. Not much."

They were both quiet for a moment. "So, um… what's with all the mafia business?"

The hazel haired girl shrugged. "Nothing, really. Anyways, here we are. The nurse's office."

**...**

Akane pushed open the door, and beckoned for Salazar to go in first. However, instead of seeing a young woman with her hair tied up in a bun, she saw a man with black hair that seemed a bit like octopus tentacles. He also had conspicuous white hair.

Dr. Shamal smiled, "A pretty girl to visit me? For free? I love this school."

Akane frowned. Where was the usual nurse? "Excuse me sir, where's –"

"Ru-chan? Ah, she got sick."

No one called the nurse by her first name, much less Ru_-chan_. Was he her… father? He seemed a bit too old to be her boyfriend or husband.

"Okay, um, could you help me look at my head?"

Shamal motioned for her to sit down in the chair next to him. "What happened to your head? Ah, those are some pretty curls. Did you dye it to be this beautiful hazel color? They match your eyes perfectly, I must say."

"Don't try to flirt with her, and you have tons of noticeable white hair because of your age – agh!" Salazar yelped as he tripped over Shamal's foot. The doctor pretended not to notice, and moved his foot back to where it was before.

"I know a great dining place on Airuregi Boulevard, or maybe you want to go on a picnic at the park near the school?"

"Thanks…? But we're not in a relationship, doctor. Scolle-san recently just transferred here, and I'm not really interested in him, though some others are," Akane replied, her face heating up.

Shamal chuckled, then shot a groaning Salazar a dirty look. "I didn't mean him, that wretched, mannerless boy. Would you like to go with me?" He scooted his chair closer to Akane, and placed his hand on the red spot, but his fingers fiddling with her short bangs. "That is one great bump you've got there. Whatever did you do to cause it?"

Akane's face turned beet red, and she sprang up, accidentally kicking Salazar, who was lying down on the floor in pain from tripping over Shamal's foot, in the stomach. He clutched his stomach and shouted random words, rolling around the floor.

"Mister, I would have to caution you to not harass me like that. I can report you to the principal," Akane said shakily. Who was this guy? Why would the school even allow someone like him to be a nurse? Oh, how she wished Karina was by her side right now.

"BLOODY HE – SOMEONE HELP ME! YOU'RE A DOCTOR, AREN'T YOU?"

"I don't treat men. I specialize in women," Shamal said lightly.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW WRONG THAT SOUNDS?!" Salazar shouted, still clutching his stomach. _He can still be so sarcastic in pain,_ Akane thought. "JUST TREAT ME, YOU NUTTER!"

Akane looked down at the poor boy in agony, and felt a wave of pity. Her forehead didn't seem to hurt that much anymore, so she might as well have the doctor treat Salazar instead. Besides, it would be nice to get the doctor off her back. But first, she needed information.

The girl crouched down to Salazar. "Scolle-san, if the doctor treats you, will you tell me what the others said about me?" Though Akane's voice sounded how it was usually like, there was a hint of threat.

"YEAH! SURE! I WOULD'VE TOLD YOU IF YOU ASKED BEFORE THIS ANYWAYS!"

"I thought I asked…?"

"YOU ONLY ASKED ME WHAT THEY SAID, NOT TO TELL YOU WHAT THEY SAID!"

Akane blinked. Normal people wouldn't be so… picky? He was playing with her words, like many villains in fairy tales did. Shrugging it off, she told the doctor to treat Salazar's wounds; if he had any. Dr. Shamal agreed, though rather reluctantly, as Akane noticed. After the boy had stopped yelling and swearing, Chiruma dragged him away from the doctor, and they started up the stairs.

...

"Akane-san!" Akane turned at the sound of her name and saw a girl with purple hair and eyes and red glasses running - no - stumbling towards her.

She stopped in her tracks to face the class president. The school bell had just rung a few minutes ago. What would she have to say? Ah, yes, of course. Salazar. "Oh, um…"  
>Umira raised a hand to silence her. How Akane wished she had that power. It would be so useful with Kari. "Karina-san told me everything. The mafia? I would love to join the team!"<p>

"Honestly? Tha–"

"It's just like in those manga and comic books! This is going to be great! You know, all the 'pow!'s' and 'whoosh's' and all!" Umira said, waving her hands around. Akane had never seen her like that before.

"Oh, uh... Well then. That's, heh, great!" Akane managed to say. She noticed that Umira, for once, spoke without all those big words and seems to actually be using sound effects (Umira: onomatopoeia! Kari: No one cares!) for words... Which was extremely rare. Well, this was actually the only time Akane heard Umira talk like that.

Just as Umira was about to say something, Karina and Yori arrived. Umira shut her mouth and waved to the two. "Hi! So, when is the competition starting?"

Karina pursed her lips. "A few weeks later, but there's a training session that all teams have to go to this week at Tokyo."

"Alright! So, the four of us are going?"

"Um…"

Karina pulled Akane to the side, 'to talk to her about some private things'.

Or maybe she was just planning to kill her.

"Kari-chan -"

The dark-haired girl raised a hand to silence her. How come everyone but Akane could do that? It wasn't like she never tried it before; she'd tried it on Karina and earned a laugh.

"Shut up. Listen, the competition starts tomorrow, and we don't have enough people. So far, there's only you, me, Yori, and Kawasaki. We need three more people to make a team of seven, or we can't enter."

"Okay. So…?"

"So we need more people, dumbo!"

"Why don't you just go ask Scolle-san then?" Akane said tentatively. "He might agree. He's new, and new to the rumors about me, so –"

"Why didn't you ask him before then, Aka-chan? Besides, we've only known him for a few days. Can't trust him."

"Well, um, we could get Kazu-kun to join!"

Kari's face darkened at this, and Akane began to worry for her life. Weren't Kazuto and Karina usually on pretty good terms? They sure squabbled a lot, but that was normal sibling behaviour, right? At least, Akane was pretty sure that was how siblings usually were like. She had a dog, she had a father, but she didn't have any siblings.

After a while, when there was no reply from Karina, Akane began to move back towards Umira and Yoritomo. Had she gone too far and offended Karina on a huge scale? If so, how? Who knew what would happen to her if Kari suddenly exploded?

"U-um… Kari-chan?"

Akane was met by silence. She sighed and walked back towards the group, one eye on her friend in case she decided to suddenly attack.

"KAZUTO THAT DISGUSTING LITTLE CREEP WON'T BE JOINING US!" Karina suddenly shouted, slamming a fist against the wall.

"Alright, alright… c-calm down…" Akane went over to her long-haired friend, trying to calm her down, and 'comfort' her, whatever comfort meant to Kari.

"Hang on," Yori spoke up, breaking his usual silence. "You," he looked towards Karina. "Never call your brother 'Kazu_to_' unless you're mad at him. What happened between you two?

When Karina began to protest, he held up a hand to silence her. Akane blinked. There it was again. The magic hand. It could even silence _Kari_.

"As your brother's best friend, I deserve the right to know."

"THEN GO ASK HI –"

Yoritomo held his hand up even higher. His left hand went through his black hair, making it even messier than usual. It wasn't like he tried to make it messy; it was just like that. "I want to hear it from you."

Karina glared at Yori, spun on her heels, and walked off.

...

Akane was in her bedroom, trying to decide whether or not to pack. She had these little arguments between herself daily. Should I do this, or should I do that? Sometimes, she had them in front of Kari, which annoyed her friend to an extreme extent. Unlike Akane, Karina was more of a 'i feel like doing this now and so i'm going to do it no buts no ifs i don't care' type of person, while Akane was a 'no but should i do this or that because if i do this then i don't need this but then if i do that Kari might get mad and i'll get in trouble and die so what should i do' type of person. Karina had said that they would go to a Vongola training session this weekend.

But based on Karina's reaction to Yoritomo's magic hand and surprisingly long talk (at least for Yori, it was long), Akane was unsure whether or not they were going to Tokyo tomorrow. They did need seven people, and they only had four. That type of obstacle wouldn't really get to Kari, but if she and Kazuto really had a bad fight…

Though it didn't seem like it, Akane could tell that Kari depended on her twin a lot for many things. He was someone that she subconsciously depended on, no matter what happened. it did seem like the two were pretty cold to each other today, which was odd for them. They would either start quarreling or tease Akane together every morning. Instead, they just… sat at their desks. The Sawada twins even arrived at school separately that day, which surprised everyone in the class and caused rumors to spread. Akane had thought nothing about it, but now that Yori had brought it up in a more serious manner…

"Akane! It's for you!"

The girl ran down the stairs towards her father, who was holding the phone out towards her. He looked tired, as he always did these years. When Akane saw him, he was either working, eating, or reading the newspaper. Not riding in a car whenever he could. Trying to ignore Felix, their dog, which was a hard thing for him to do. For the past two years, he was trying to avoid anything that would remind him of her mother.

Felix, who was practically raised by his master, found this unnerving. He would run to his master whenever he could, and snuggle up close by. Akane even found her father avoiding her, his own daughter, out of all the people in the world! But she understood, and said nothing about it. Instead, she tried to help him get out of it in subtle ways. Reminding him of the good memories, trying to make it feel like his wife was there by him, and it was working, though slowly.

Akane took the phone from Mr. Chiruma, and held it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"PACK YOUR THINGS, AKA-CHAN!"  
>Felix jumped and growled at the loud voice, and Akane threw the phone away in fright, towards her father, and he caught it with great ease. "Is it Karina-chan?" he mouthed, used to her best friend's manners and ways of speaking. Akane nodded in response, and took the phone upstairs where they wouldn't bother Mr. Chiruma.<p>

"What do you mean, Kari-chan?"

Akane heard Karina take a deep breath before she had to hold the phone away from her ear again. "FIRST-OF-ALL-YOU-WOULDN'T-ANSWER-YOUR-CELLPHONE-SO-I-HAD-TO-CALL-YOUR-HOME-PHONE-AND-NO-ONE-USES-THAT-ANYMORE-SORT-OF-ANYWAY-YOU-KNOW-HOW-WE'RE-MISSING-A-LOT-OF-PEOPLE-WELL-IT-DOESN'T-MATTER-WE-CAN-STILL-GO!"

"...So you bribed your dad into letting us go even if we don't have enough members?" Akane asked after a pause to rub her ear.

"Um… no. I sort of didn't tell him. We're technically sneaking into the competition."

...

A few blocks away from the Chiruma household, Karina threw her cellphone away from her ear, which narrowly missed crashing against the wall. She went to her bed, picked up the cellphone, and lay down.

"Don't scare me, Aka-chan. What do you mean by shouting 'WHAT?!' It's not like we can't sneak in."

Her friend's agitated and nervous response was so long, that Kari's attention began to drift to random objects in her room. Posters of her favorite band, pencils, anything to keep her mind off of Akane's long and boring speech.

"...I mean, I know that it's wrong, and I really wish we could go, but–"

"Stop being so indecisive, will you?!" Kari yelled, frustrated. "We're going, and that's the end of it!"

"Um, Kari-chan, didn't your father hear you when you shouted about your 'plan'?"

"No, don't worry. He's still at work. My mom took Yuriko to her friend's birthday party."

"What about Kazu-ku–"

"I heard it."

Karina's sat up at the sound of her brother's voice and scowled at Kazuto, who was at the door. She instantly pressed the 'talk' button to put off speaker. Then she hesitated but hung up on Akane without bothering to say anything, and marched up to her twin. He was leaning casually against the open door, a serious look on his face. "Get. Out. Of. My. Room." she spat through gritted teeth. However, Karina disliked the fact that she had to look up to glare at him in the eyes. They were the same age, so how could Kazuto be half a head taller than her? He was only four minutes older. Only four minutes. Besides, she should be the one looking _down_ on him, not vice versa.

"You do realize that I can tell dad? That you're going to sneak in to the competition?"

The younger Sawada twin rolled her eyes. "Oh, running off to tell daddy, aren't you? What a tattletale."

"Really, Kari, I'm sorry about whatever happened yesterday, but I really don't know what happen -"

"Just shut up, Kazuto. I'll tell you what happened. You turned into a pink fluffy unicorn, throwing up rainbows and casting magic spells."

Her brother sighed exasperatedly. "Kari –"

Too late. Karina had already slammed her door in his face. Literally. She ignored his yelp of pain when solid wood came into contact with his forehead, and slumped back onto her bed. After tying her straight, waist-length hair into a messy ponytail and clipping her bangs back, she heaved out a suitcase and began to pile clothes into it.

Of course, along with many different knives that she stole from the kitchen that night and hid in her closet.

...

"Hello? Kari-chan?" Akane sighed, shaking her head at Karina's quick temper, and went downstairs. "Dad...?"

Mr. Chiruma looked up from the television. He was watching some old black and white movie with no sound. "Yes, Akane?"

"Um, I just wanted to tell you that I'm going out for the weekend."

"To where? And you do realize you have school on Monday?"

Akane fidgeted a bit. "I'll be going to Tokyo with Kari-chan, and maybe some other people. We'll be back just in time for school."

After a moment of silence, he nodded. "As long as you're with an adult, I'm fine with it. Why are you guys going?"

"We're going to a ma-" Akane stopped. Her father looked extremely tired under the dim light of a lamp. Saying that she was going to train for some mafia competition would stress him even more, and she wasn't sure if he was able to handle that. "I mean, we're going to visit one of our old friends."

Her father's eyes flickered back to the television, and he nodded again. After Akane slipped up the stairs, she sighed and lingered there. She hated lying to her dad. Then Akane caught Felix's whine and the jingling of his collar when someone pets the dog. "She's hiding something from me, isn't she?" muttered to Felix. Akane tensed as she heard her father's voice. "But then again, she is already about to go into 9th grade. And teenagers always have their little secrets, don't they?"

**Regi: I butchered Shamal's personality, didn't I? QmQ Sorry for the, idek, like, month late update guys. Things got a bit hectic. By the way, why do the Sawadas have so many knives in their kitchen, that after Kari stole a lot, no one noticed? Maybe Haru is actually a really awesome fighter XD with kitchen knives. **

**Ailurophilek: Yessss, I like that idea.**

**Regi: Hmmm... Maybe we should use it…**

**Ailurophilek: This chapter was pretty much written by Regi-chan. So applause for her! See? I'm not evil like Regi said. ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Five**

**WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS A BIT OF GORE/SCENES SUGGESTING VIOLENCE HAS OCCURRED. PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH IT. WE WILL GIVE A RECAP IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**IF YOU WISH TO CONTINUE TO READ, WE WILL GIVE A GORE WARNING BEFORE THE SCENE HAPPENS**

Akane stared out of the window, head in her hands. Staring out, Akane watched the blurred hills pass. The trees were stretched and only the sun looked perfectly normal, stalking every single one of them as always, telling them that there is always _someone_ watching. Akane had just decided to drift off into slumber when Yoritomo interrupted her.

"Oi, chibi. You want any?" He held a box of sushi to her from across the table they were sitting at. Akane reached across the small table on the train and took one without much thinking. Yoritomo sat facing her and Karina was beside her, next to the aisle. Umira was staring at her phone, seated beside the boring Yoritomo. The only boy in their group looked a lot better after looking so sick on the airplane they took to Fukuoka.

"Thanks, and don't call me chibi," she muttered half heartedly. They had been through this _so_ many times.

Kari suddenly swerved her head around like a hawk and grinned cheekily. "You two lovebirds are so close, you're already sharing food!" She took a sushi from Yoritomo and gulped it down. "Besides, you didn't care if he called you 'chibi' when we were small, now, did you? Are you cheating on your boyfriend? Hmm?" She said teasingly, though mouth stuffed.

Akane turned red while Yoritomo just shrugged ever-so-lightly, as always. "N-no! Besides, that was when we were in elementary school, and I was shorter than most of you then, but now I'm about the same height! And Yori-kun's sharing food with you, too!"

"_About_. I'm still a few centimeters taller than you, and I'm younger," Karina mused, eyeing Akane maliciously. She ignored Akane's last comment.

"So!? A few centimeters doesn't make me chibi to you!"

"I didn't know that Akane-san and Yoritomo-san were an item," Umira, who sat across Karina, said, joining the conversation. She pushed up her glasses, and took the whole box of sushi when Yori offered her some. "Do you have a ship name?"

"We're not an item!"

"Hush, Aka-chan. You mean one of those couple name things?" Kari asked, a bit unfamiliar with the term. The class president nodded.

"What's a ship name?" Akane asked curiously, completely unfamiliar with the term.

Umira and Karina turned to face Akane and Yoritomo with evil smiles and glinting eyes. They laughed like evil maniacs, causing chills to be sent up and down Akane's spine. She clutched her gray beanie in her hands tightly, regretting that she had asked. Yori, on the other hand, was leaning against the back of his seat with a bored look, as usual. He ran his right hand through his hair, his left against the windowsill, glancing at the two plotting girls with an unconcerned look. He didn't exactly care what they said; it was just rumors anyway. But though he didn't act like it, he always listened to what his friends said. It was only polite and respectful to do so. Though Hitobi Yoritomo didn't know what a ship name was, through their conversation, he could guess, just like Akane.

"Akatomo?" Kari asked.

"Yorine?" Umira suggested, cheeks getting red from excitement.

"Hitoma?"

"Nemo?"

"Akayori?"

"Tomone?"

"Chirumaakane-hitobiyoritomo?"

"No, too long! Yoriaka?"

"Psh. What about Akayori-akayori?"

"...Chirubi?"

At this, Karina slammed her hands onto the table and stood up, startling Akane, Umira, and everyone aboard the train, except for Yori, who was still sitting there with a hand in his hair, looking bored. "YES! THAT'S IT! BECAUSE YOU KNOW HOW YORI KEEPS CALLING AKA-CHAN 'CHIBI', AND CHIRUBI KIND OF SOUNDS LIKE CHIBI, SO YES!"

Akane suddenly went tense. She felt the tingling feeling inside of her and tried in vain to push it back down her stomach. Nobody noticed the suddenly rigid Akane. Umira, who was into the conversation, frowned, and took her class president stance. Her back straightened, and she sat with great authority and posture. She pushed up her glasses again. "It sounds a bit weird… but alright. Let's make it a tentative ship name then – we can always change it later."

"NO! WE SHALL USE CHIRUBI! CHIRUBI FOREVER! HEARTS AND RAINBOWS!" Kari shouted, making a heart sign with her hands between Akane and Yoritomo.

The purple-haired girl stood up, adjusting her glasses yet again. The lenses caught the light of the sun and shone dangerously. "No, Sawada-san," she said seriously in her class president voice. Karina immediately stiffened at this. You knew you were about to be in trouble when Kawasaki Umira started to use your last name and put on her president act. "I think we should…"

Akane stopped listening with that and tried again to blink back the tears coming into her eyes. She put her head in her hands and squeezed her eyes shut in attempt to stop thinking. But it was impossible to stop thinking when you actually try to do so. Then it appeared, despite Akane's struggle. Her thirteenth birthday... The day her mother passed away. Akane remembered it vividly. She knew that she only started thinking about this was because that the name Chirubi was much too close to what her dad used to call her mother- Cherub. Her father had said that it meant a baby angel, and her mother was, in fact, his angel. It was a cloudy day, and Akane remembered her pink fuzzy slippers that she received from her mother when she woke up. She remembered taking the slippers and looking up at her mother, who smiled down at her. Her mother's brown curls touched Akane's cheek when she kissed her on the forehead and wished her a happy birthday. However, right after that, her mother had said something about work. Akane didn't remember that part clearly since all she remembered was getting mad, knowing that her mother's intentions were to leave her and go to work. At that moment, Akane had flung the slippers down the stairs and stomped back into her room with teary eyes. How Akane regretted that now, because she never got to see her mother alive after that.

"Aka-chan? Aka –"

"Chibi. Snap out of it."

"Akane-san? We were tal-" Umira suddenly stopped and inhaled. sharply.

Akane looked up to see the three other members of their little party looking at her worriedly. That's when she noticed that her eyes were filled with tears, and a few tears were rolling down her cheeks. Akane sniffed twice and quickly wiped at her eyes.

"E-eh…" She murmured, not sure what to say. Did she really just start crying? Karina looked very concerned, and Akane flinched when Karina reached out to grab Akane's arm.

"I'm really sorry…. Aka-chan. I really am. Is it because of me? I'll stop teasing you, I promise. I didn't mean to make you cry. At all."

Akane shook her head. "No… It's alright. I just… Nevermind. It's not because of you." Akane choked as she spoke. Yoritomo finally lifted his eyebrows and seemed to actually care about what the girls were talking about for once.

"Oy…" Yoritomo said. "They were just teasing…" He took a napkin out of a tissue box and handed it to Akane. "You okay?"

Akane took the paper and nodded, not really using it. "I know." She whispered, afraid that she'd trigger her emotions even more if she said anything else. Umira was just looking at her and patting her while slowly exhaling.

"Why did you cry?" Karina asked after a pause of silence. Akane was almost back to normal again, except for the red tint at the edges of her eyes.

"Old memories." Akane forced a shrug as if it wasn't a big deal. Karina narrowed her eyes. Akane looked away, she knew Karina knows what she was thinking about. After all, she had shared her pains with her best friend. "I'm fine, really." Akane said with a smile. "Here, I've got some cards, let's play." She said, though she really didn't feel like playing. Karina instantly spotted that.

"I know a game… Though it only could be played by three people. The dealer keeps score. Akane, why don't you be dealer?" She said. Gratefully, Akane nodded and the girls exchanged glances. Karina stared deep into Akane's eyes, almost as if saying that she knew of her pain and was there for her. Akane blinked in reply. It didn't mean anything, maybe acknowledgement, but not really. She just blinked, and it was free to be taken as anything Karina would like.

…..

"Ha! I won again!" Yoritomo said, going pretty hard-core with the card game. He seemed almost hyper for the first time.

Karina grit her teeth. "Argh! And this was supposed to be _my_ game…" she muttered. Yoritomo just chuckled proudly.

"Well, looks like my skills defy your luck!" He stretched and crossed his legs.

Then she slammed her pack of cards down hard onto the table. "Congratulations, Yori-kun~" Kari said with a cheerful smile, much like the one on Kazuto's face before he got mad two chapters ago (Akane: Wait, Kazu-kun got _mad_? **Regi: um, er, spoilers! Ailurophilek: How is that a spoiler? Regi: *whispers*** **for the characters it is! Ailurophilek: Oh, right. Gotcha.**). Hearing Kari say that made both Umira and Akane sigh. She was about to call for a rematch. _Again. _They had been playing cards for an hour now, and Karina only won one round so far. Yoritomo, on the other hand, seemed to be on fire. He won seven times in a row, counting this one.

"Yes, congrats to me. And if you'd like, I'd be happy to play another round." Yoritomo said, eyes closed and face smug. Akane could tell that Karina itched to slap that expression off of his face.

"Hey, we're almost there, why don't we talk about ourselves a little. I know we are all from the same school and all, but now we're actually a team… You know, if things go well, then a family!" Umira piped up.

Akane facepalmed. "That sounds… A little… too… intimate…" She trailed off.

Umira's eyes widened. "No! I didn't mean it that way!" Umira wailed and both Karina and Yoritomo bursted into laughter.

"She has a point though." Karina said approvingly, she then turned to Akane. "So, Akane, what ring do you plan to take?" Akane hesitated. She actually didn't think of that yet. Silently, she ran her thoughts through the possibilities.

"Ones that I can light up?" Akane said uncertainly, trying to remember all the information Karina had sent them through an email last night. It included information about some rings, and to bring some weapon. Honestly, Akane sort of regretted what she had gotten herself into after seeing the word 'weapon'.

"Yeah, duh!" Umira humphed. "Of course! We all have a flame circulation, but which type?" Akane was suddenly dumbfounded.

"Uh… Was I supposed to know?" Akane asked, feeling like a jerk but Umira actually took a while to reply.

"Right. I guess not. I was told by my father. He said that I had lightning running through my veins… So I guess I'm lightning then." Umira sighed. "Of course, it's not as if I don't think lightning is congenial for me, it's just that sun would suit me even better. Besides, he doesn't even know about this mafia stuff, so he probably thought I was joking and played along." Karina raised an eyebrow, nodding.

"Tell me about your weapon then." Karina said, excitement in her voice. Umira beamed.

"Okay, okay." Umira began with a big breath. Akane could tell that it was going to be a long speech. "So basically, they are my _shiny babies_. You must be respectful of them. I'm going to take them out and I know they may seem useless, but trust me, I can fight with them." Umira said, surprisingly briefly. Swiping her short purple bangs to the side, she reached down under the table and into her back pack. Then she groped for something with her tongue curled over her top lip. Umira's eyes literally lit up when she took out a box just a little longer than her hand. It was thin and was made out of metal. Akane could feel anticipation within her, stirring as Umira lifted the top. Without noticing, Karina and Akane both leaned forwards for a good peek at the weapon Umira so treasured. Akane frowned when the content came into view. Karina made a laughing noise. It was a pair of chopsticks. Akane couldn't understand. How could a person fight with a pair of metallic chopsticks? She understood that one could poke another in the eye with them but if taken like that, anything is a weapon, really.

Yori lifted an eyebrow, and Akane could tell that he was trying not to laugh. "Ch-chopsticks?" He asked, with a strangled voice, as though he were choking on something. Probably choking on laughter.

Umira set the intricate metal box, decorated with dragons, on the table in a serious manner, and took the chopsticks out of the silk cushion. "Excuse me, can I have a bowl of ramen?" She asked a waitress politely. In almost no time at all (considering the fact that they were on a moving train), a bowl of fresh ramen was set down in front of the class president. The other three people made no movement or sound, eager to see what the class president was about to do with chopsticks and ramen. Umira picked up a bunch of noodles, and paused, looking at Karina, as if asking for permission to go on with her performance. The dark haired girl nodded, and Umira twisted the noodles onto the pair of flat, metal chopsticks, then raised it up high for all to see. The fluorescent lights shined upon the noodles, giving it a halo effect. After a short pause, the chopsticks moved again, this time towards Umira. They all held their breath. What would she do with it? How would she attack? In that moment, it seemed as though time itself stopped, waiting for the girl with glasses to make her move. Umira opened her mouth, as if to speak. Then she ate the noodles.

Karina stared at her class president for a second, as if in shock. "Is that it?!"

Akane yelped in surprise and dropped her beanie, her hands quickly going to cover her ears. Yoritomo, who sat opposite of her, banged his left arm against the window, startled. Only Umira was unfazed, and continued to eat her ramen.

"What? I'm hungry."

"YOU'RE GOING TO FIGHT BY EATING RAMEN WITH CHOPSTICKS?!"

"Ramen is absolutely ambrosial – and no, that's not how I'm going to brawl."

"Then what were you doing?! You're supposed to show us how your weapons work!" Karina screeched.

"Hmmm? I never said anything about showing you guys how they worked..."

"Umira!"

"Just let me finish my ramen. Please."

Karina stared at Umira like she was going to explode, but then sighed, sat back down, and ruffled her dark hair, a habit passed on to her by Yoritomo.

And just like that, after what seemed like hours of waiting for Umira to finish and Karina to stop having temper tantrums, along with Yoritomo and Akane pretending not to know them, they arrived at Tokyo.

...

"Um, sir, why do we only get two keys?" Umira asked the man at the front desk. He had just "checked" them in, and gone over their extremely detailed profiles with a highlighter. It was a little creepy when a stranger knew everything from your birthday to your preference of what type of food; salty, sweet, etc. The man peered at the purple haired girl through his glasses, and smoothed his suit.

"Kawasaki Umira, eh? Being a part of a strong mafia family is not as easy as you think. Sometimes, you have to bunk with others. Boys in one room, girls in another."

...

"Well, at least I have my own room," Yoritomo said with a strong dose of smugness.

"That's why we're going to have our meetings in your room," Karina said in a sing song voice, and marched into Yoritomo's room. "Hope you don't die of loneliness."

Akane giggled. "Yori-Kun, I don't think each one of us need separate rooms. It's not like we're gonna take up the whole space…"

Yoritomo was surprised by the sudden voice of the rather quiet girl. Well… Quiet these days anyway. "Well, I'd _like_ the whole space." Yori said, unwilling to let his smugness be trampled. Then he inspected the room. There was yellow wallpaper that looked quite old. The paper was slightly peeling at random corners and it looked as if nobody had taken care of it. Yoritomo walked across and gently touched the wall. Dust flew off into the air and a smudged white spot appeared on the wall. Yori frowned and looked at his finger. It was smeared with dust. He dismissed it with a wipe of his finger on his black jeans. Walking across the clean, marble floor, Yoritomo's footsteps were the only sound in the rather silent room. He looked at the floor and grimaced. It was so shiny and clean, contradicting the wall. The floor seemed to be cleaned just recently by janitors. As he walked. Yoritomo's footsteps seemed to be the only sound in the rather silent room. Of course, it wasn't empty enough to give off echos, but if it were, the room was definitely big enough. All the while, the girls seemed to be quietly staring at something. Yoritomo lifted his eyes and followed the girls' gazes to a slightly ajar door. He could just see the outlines of clothing inside.

"Oy… Hitobi-kun…" Umira managed. "I think we must be in the wrong room."

Finally, someone had spoken up. Yoritomo furrowed his eyebrows.

"I see." He said and went over to open the closet, which was fill with suits. "Yeah, maybe you are right." He said.

"But it doesn't make sense!" Akane shook her head. "How come our key could unlock the door then? And this is room 211, no?" She then whipped out the key and looked at the engraved numbers. 'No.211' It said. Akane shrugged and passed the key to Karina.

Karina nodded, looking deep in thought. "Let's ask the front desk." She said briefly before crashing onto one of the two bunk beds and picking up the phone.

Yoritomo looked at the closet and opened it's door. The space inside was rather cramped and four blazers hung from the clothes hanger. Nothing else was able to fit. What puzzled Yori was that all the clothes looked exactly the same. Whoever lived in this room must be a boring person, or people. From which side the buttons were on, Yoritomo knew that they were all guy suits. A sudden slam brought Yoritomo back and he looked up at Karina, who was fuming with anger. She had literally just smashed the phone down, nearly breaking it on the dial pad.

"So?" He asked.

"Those suits are the clothes we must wear. Something to do with 'protection'." Karina said with disgust. "I just hope the girls' mandatory clothing won't be as ugly, and it doesn't fall past the thigh."

Yoritomo blinked and slowly comprehended the situation. "So these are for us then." He murmured.

"WHERE IS THE WASHROOM?" Umira suddenly screeched. "I NEED IT." She said. That triggered something from Yoritomo's memory. Umira was holding in her urine from when they just got off the train. She started ranting about it on the bus that lead them to this hotel, especially assigned for the candidates of the mafia competition. Yoritomo shrugged and pointed to a random door. Umira didn't need to be indicated twice. She sprinted across the ground and onto the carpet without taking off her shoes… Well, Karina didn't either when she flipped over the lower bunk bed. Then she slammed the door close behind her. Yoritomo chuckled at her rush but was interrupted by a yell. The next second, Umira was stomping out of the room, face red.

"That was NOT a washroom!" She huffed and zoomed into the last unexplored door. Yoritomo whistled and watched as Akane took off her shoes and went into the door Umira came out of. Finally, someone respects him enough to do that simple action. Yoritomo took off his shoes too and followed suite.

"It's a study." Akane said simply. There was a desk in a corner and a bright yellow lamp that was turned on. A comfy black chair was placed by the desk and there were empty shelves along the walls.

Karina was crawling up and down the bunk beds, exploring them. That was when Umira finally came out, looking civilized again. Though of course, her purple hair was still messy and her blue eyes were still extraordinarily blue.

...

"Okay, let's make things clear."

Both Akane and Kari looked up from unpacking in the girls' room. Umira stood near the window, glasses flashing. She stood with great authority.

"Not the president act _again_!" Karina wailed. Umira glared at her and she fell back to silence.

"As you all know, we're going to be sharing a room now. And I'd like to set up a few ground rules. One."

Umira whipped out a large crayon out of nowhere and drew a line on the carpet. "The space surrounding the bunk by the window are all mine. You may not cross the line unless I have given you permission to."

Akane and Kari nodded, knowing better than to argue with her.

"Two. All your belongings must be put away in an orderly manner."

Karina pursed her lips at this. She wasn't exactly the neatest person in the planet.

"And three. Never. Ever. Never bother me when I'm reading comics or eating ramen."

The two other girls both sweatdropped at this rule, but nodded. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, which they were thankful for, 'cause who knew how long Umira was going to continue her speech for?

"Come in!" Kari called out.

A familiar man pushed open the door and stepped inside. Karina took one look at the man and ran towards him, wrapping her arms around him.

Tsuna smiled warmly, but peeled the blur of brown, furry haired girl off of him. "Kari, I did tell you that I can't be biased."

"I can't even hug you?"

"No signs of affection. Most of the other competitors are all strangers, and I have to treat you that way too."

Karina frowned. It was obvious she was planning to use her advantage as the Tenth's daughter to win, despite her father's warnings.

"Is this your team behind you? You do know that the requirement is to have seven, don't you?" Tsuna stared at his elder daughter with a stern look. Looking to his eyes, Karina shivered. It was eerie how much that stare looked like Kazuto's a few days ago. Though her father's eyes were a warm brown color-just like her's- instead of her twin's sharp, piercing blue, it was even more penetrating.

"Of course I do," Karina replied with a steady voice. "There are the boys, too. Oh and some of them can't make it here yet." She lied.

"Well, you'd better hope they'll come soon, because the contest has been moved to this Wednesday."

"WHAT?!" Karina jerked away from Tsuna and her tall figure, which was up to her dad's chin, almost seemed as if it were about to crumple to the ground.

"It's been moved, Sawada. That's why I'm going to visit all the teams - to check up on them and to tell them that it's now on Wednesday. Mafia members do have to adapt quickly, no?" And with that, Kari's father walked off, leaving her in total confusion and anger.

In the background, Umira was beaming and with a high pitched voice telling Akane how lucky and excited she is to see the tenth vongola mafia boss in person. Akane was simply focused on the fact that the date has been moved and was more appalled than ever. They weren't even prepared in the least bit.

**WARNING: DO NOT CONTINUE TO READ UNLESS YOU ARE FULLY SURE YOU ARE OKAY WITH MILDLY GORY SCENES **

"Aka-chan, I'm going to go to the gym place with Yori and Umira to train first, 'kay?" Karina said with a lot of determination in her voice, watching Akane continue to unpack her bags. It was clear that she had made up her mind to start hardcore training with them, and that she was getting impatient waiting for her friend. "When you come down, remember to get a weapon."

"Yeah, sure, I'll be there in a moment," Akane replied, looking through her bags for any weapon. She knew she could use Kari's kitchen knives, but they seemed _too dangerous_. Then again, weapons were supposed to be harmful. Why couldn't there be some unsharp weapon with no bullets or things alike? A weapon that was actually kind of safe but still a weapon at the same time. Maybe she'll go with a baseball bat, if only she could find one around here.

After finding nothing, Akane decided to go to the 'gym place', as Karina had called it. Maybe they would have safe-but-still-weapons weapons there. Just before she left the door, Akane realized that she had her grey beanie on. Could she wear it to training? Looking at the uptight uniforms the Vongola had forced them to wear, she guessed not. When she took it off, however, Akane's head felt extremely light and unusual. She usually wore that beanie when she could, and when there was the appropriate weather. Since winter had not quite yet passed, going out without the gray headpiece felt weird. Though Akane couldn't wear it when she went to school, she usually wore it on the weekend and any other time, making it like another limb of hers. As she walked out, her brown eyes lingered on the hat, not wanting to leave it there, not wanting to separate with it. It felt as though someone would be disappointed if she didn't wear it.

Maybe she was just being paranoid.

Really paranoid. About a hat.

Akane sighed and shut the door behind her. She took a strand of hair and curled it around her finger absentmindedly as she walked through long, narrow hallways to the gym.

Was this a bad choice?

Why did she go with Karina to join some mafia group that's involved in danger, assassination, and tons of other horrible stuff?

What if the moment she walked through the gym doors, everything in her life would be turned upside down?

What if everyone she knew died?

What if they were all in danger?

Why did she even agree to join the _mafia_, out of all things, in the first place? Just what was so intriguing about them?

The girl took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down. She had already made a choice. Now was not the time to be thinking about this. She pushed open the doors and stepped in.

And in her mind, at that moment, she regretted every single choice she made so far about the mafia.

Red. Blood red. Warning red. Stoplight red. Danger red. All over the floor, even splattered on the walls. Akane took a step forward, and her foot stepped into a puddle of blood. Her breath hitched when she heard the sound, and her whole body began to shake uncontrollably.

Someone extremely familiar, with long, dark hair, was laying on the ground on her stomach. Her eyes were wide with fright. The girl reached towards Akane, dark brown eyes imploring her to save her. Blood dripped down her head, forming a large pool underneath her. The girl's dark brown hair was wet and sticky. "A...Aka-chan…"

-**End of chapter 5**-

**Ail: DUN DUN DUUUUUUN~ This suspension… Make sure you anticipate for the next chapter! Hey, I gave myself an abbreviated name! **

**Regi: the most wonderful cliffhanger in the universe. WOAH WAIT we wrote the last sentence first, which then got deleted and stuff, and how did it turn so… bloody…? It was supposed to be a bit funny-happy-ish… AILURO DON'T BE SO EVIL**

**Ail: Hey! Firstly, **_**I **_**wasn't the one who wrote the ending. I was just about to ask **_**you**_ **the same. Why so gruesome? Second, IT'S AIL! AIL! AIL and that's that! Humph. (It sounds like 'isle' if you say it a few times… Such a name. See why I don't like nicknames now?)**


	6. Chapter 6

**six**

**VALENTINE'S OVA INCLUDED~ (It's after the chapter)**

"WHAT?!" Gokudera snapped, sitting straight up.

I-pin jumped. "H-Hayato-nii –"

"THE TENTH WENT TO TOKYO?! WITHOUT ME?!" the silver-haired man jumped off the bed, ignoring the pains of several needles that were pulled out of his arm as he bolted for the door.

"W-wait!" I-pin called. But the man had already left the pale blue bed sheets crumpled and was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, at least we know he's recovered," Lambo, who was leaning against the door, muttered.

"To be honest, he should have stayed longer. I don't know what kind of weapon that attacker used, but this cut on his arm sure is deep." I-pin said in reply, peering out the door worriedly. "I would have preferred for him to rest longer and have his flame circulation recover completely. Reborn-san would be mad."

"Don't worry about him. He'll be fine," the young 25 year old man said casually. Ipin turned to him, twisting her single braid around her finger.

"But…" she then sighed. "I guess there's not much we can do anyways, he's already gone."

"Come on, let's go too then. Since _someone_ didn't even say a word of thank you, why should we hang around this place any longer?" Lambo said with a lifted eyebrow, almost sarcastically. With that, he grabbed I-pin by the wrist and took off. I-pin's body leaned forwards by the force and she yelped.

"W-where are we going?" She asked, one hand on her white bandanna.

"Somewhere fun!" Lambo said with a tint of his old childishness in his voice. "LIKE AN AMUSEMENT PARK!" I-pin was surprised for a second, but her mind instantly switched from work mode into normal mode. She smiled to herself as Lambo pulled her along.

…..

"Ugh! How stupid am I? Just laying there while Ju-daimei flied off to Tokyo! I didn't even know he went!" Gokudera muttered as he pocketed his train ticket to Tokyo. He wasn't able to find any train or airplane that left just that day so he had to book one for a train leaving two days later. He basically could hijack the train or force ride… And since he was a mafia member now, he could ride some Vongola airplane or helicopter, but all of them were taken out on missions, and no one was allowed to use the emergency ones unless for… well… emergencies. "BUT THIS IS AN EMERGENCY! I CAN'T JUST HAVE THEM LAY THERE DOING NOTHING IN A CRISIS!" Gokudera reasoned but then shook himself in frustration and pushed all the messy thoughts aside for now. He was too busy shoving people in the crowd out of his way and shouldering past taller people. Gokudera felt extremely guilty. Not only had he let Tsuna go off without him, he couldn't even get to him fast enough. That's when it hit him. If he's already here, why not go and sneak into the Hiyashi's quarters on Tsushima island? Tsuna surely wouldn't be able to do so in Tokyo… He should at least be of some help while on the island.

Waving at a cab, Gokudera hopped on, and hissed a few words to the driver while opening his cellphone. Swiftly, he dialed Yamamoto's phone number. It didn't take long for the guy to pick up.

"Hello?" Yamamoto's voice sounded.

"Oy, Yakyuu baka, where are you?" Gokudera asked irritatedly.

"Huh? I'm in my house, why?" Yamamoto said, a little puzzled.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Gokudera literally screeched into the phone. On the other end, Yamamoto had to pull the phone away from his ear and grimaced.

"Calm down! What's wrong? I'm in my house!" Yamamoto said, groping for his sneakers and putting them on. He'd have to rush if Gokudera was in trouble. Anything could happen. But wasn't he supposed to be under I-pin's care?

Gokudera was truly furious. "You didn't go with Ju-daimei to Tokyo!?" He asked, trying to calm himself down a little. After all these years, it wasn't as if Gokudera didn't learn to control his temper a bit.

"No… I didn't." Yamamoto stated simply. Gokudera shook his head. The cabbie looked frightened at his display of emotions.

"How can you?" Gokudera said softly through gritted teeth. Yamamoto's carefree chuckle was heard.

"What? Hibari went with him. So did Reborn." Yamamoto said nonchalantly. "Don't sweat it. Besides, we're all gonna go on Wednesday for the final decision." Gokudera was feeling hot headed. Only two members went with Tsuna to Tokyo, and that was exactly where the Hiyashi's main quarters are. If they knew… They would likely seize the chance and cause havoc. Gokudera's hands clenched.

"Are you even loyal to the family!?" He yelled into the phone, but then after a bit, regretted that. He shouldn't have done that, especially to Yamamoto, who is still considerably unstable after his 'oyaji' passed away. He wasn't always like that. There was a time that Yamamoto started being okay with his dad leaving, but then after that, his wife died. Now it was just him – a man in his mid thirties – alone. Yamamoto didn't even have a child. The incident shook Yamamoto deeply and messed with his mind. Gokudera clearly remembered the funeral they attended. Tsuna, Chrome, Ryouhei, him, and Lambo were there. Even Hibari made a brief appearance. It was rare for Hibari to attend such events. He usually didn't hang around the family members unless in a mission or for work. Of course, Yamamoto was there too. He was crying – actually crying… He wasn't cheering people up like he did, he wasn't trying to be optimistic as always, he didn't even try to stop the tears from pouring out and rolling down his face as he crouched there, begging for a miracle to happen. After that, Yamamoto had gone on a drinking streak and refused to show himself in daylight. He rejected all the missions sent to him and left messages hanging without a reply. Only at night did he come out, and even so, rarely, just to buy food and other mandatory items or to go to the bar. Gokudera could recall so clearly, that one night he and Tsuna were walking down to visit Yamamoto for the hundredth time, despite being shut out the whole night like all the other times they attempted to get in. It was just on that same night that Yamamoto had decided to yet again go for a drink. They had seen him and Tsuna instantly rushed over. Yamamoto looked horrible that night. His eyes were bloodshot and there were large black eye bags under his eyes. His clothes smelled strongly of alcohol and his hair was as messy as a bird's nest. There were stains on his jeans and he looked pale and fragile, much unlike the athletic, cheerful Yamamoto Takeshi they knew. Tsuna had called his name and stopped Yamamoto from walking straight into him. Yamamoto's eyes were glazed and seemed to be focused on something far away… or rather, not focused at all. "Kishi… we were going to name her Kishi." He kept wailing and crying when they pulled him back into his house. It took awhile for them to realize that he was talking about his dead child, who was going to be born in a few days.

Gokudera remembered that it took a while for Yamamoto to realize that somebody was saying something to him, and took another minute for him to realize that the person was saying his name. It was as if Yamamoto had forgotten it. That night, Yamamoto had not been able to stay conscious long enough for Tsuna to even finish talking to him. All the while, he stood there, staggering and sometimes advancing a few steps. Tsuna had looked very concerned and it pained Gokudera to see it. Gokudera was pretty concerned about Yamamoto himself. So when Yamamoto's knees suddenly gave, he didn't hesitate to rush forward and catch his fall. Then Tsuna and him had ushered Yamamoto into the back seat of the car they came with and left for Tsuna's house. Yamamoto just drunkenly followed. He was in no shape to do anything at all.

Now thinking about it, Gokudera felt guilty for what he had said. It had only been what? A year since that happened. Yamamoto had moved out of Tsuna's house after three months – Tsuna reluctantly letting him go. He now lived in his house again, by himself, though he did find joy with his pet black cat, Emo. He had made up for lost time, taking every mission thrown at him and any other ones he could get his hands on.

There was silence on the other end of the phone and Gokudera pinched himself. He hated apologizing, but he was now capable of performing such an action. His time in the Vongola family had changed him little by little. Ten years ago, he didn't even know that such a thing as apologizing existed in the world.

"Look, Yamamoto… I… uh… I didn't-" Gokudera started, trying to push all the hateful feelings of apologizing away. He had to muster lots to apologize to someone, a man with his ego. He never got to finish.

"Just stop." Yamamoto's voice sounded serious. "I know. But you see, you've got to learn to trust our fellow family members. Tsuna's gonna be fine. I ensure you that. Let Hibari do the job. It'll be fine. You'll see." Yamamoto made it sound like the end of their conversation, but Gokudera suddenly had a thought, just to make up for what he said.

"Hey um, wait. Do you want to go and check out the Hiyashi's quarters with me? I have a feeling that it is them who attacked us the other day. The weapon used to cut my arm – It was a new weapon, and you know the scientist Verde? Well, he's in the family and I've just got this feeling that the weapon was invented by him. He's a great scientist, no joke." Gokudera suggested. There was a pause on the other end, then a sigh.

"Yeah, sure." Yamamoto said, sounding bored (Though really, he was grinning). "I actually thought that before you called, too."

…..

Akane stood there, dumbfounded. Then the scene slowly registered in her mind. As it did, Akane's heart rose higher and higher into her throat. "W-what…?" Karina was still lying there, hand outstretched and making a moaning sound. Akane stood there, looking as if about to collapse. Her face was pale and she started wheezing. "K-Kari-chan…?" She said uncertainly, taking a step back. The mess of bloody hair looked up and lunged at Akane. Akane screamed and was pushed to the floor. She just lay there and started begging for forgiveness. "K-Karina! O-oy! It's me! What ever happened to you… I didn't do anything I promise! Come back to your senses!" Before Akane could say anything else, a small man with a fedora suddenly jumped out of nowhere and onto Akane's forehead, and slapped her. He started scolding Akane.

"Oy, Akane. That is not how you respond in a sticky situation. You've got to protect yourself instead of just laying there and take risks while you're perfectly intact limbs do nothing. You never know when Karina will regain her senses. You've got to get used to the gore and be able to function properly even when you see this amount of what you must have assumed to be blood."

Akane sat up as the... baby? jumped off. Kari was watching them with amusement clearly written on her face, wringing red liquid out of her hair. Then Reborn turned to Karina.

"Kari, how could you mess up the place like this? I told you to get bloody, but not the floor and walls, too. This might be too extreme for starters."

"Sorry, sorry…" Karina replied, without any apologeticness in her voice.

Akane also noticed, that Karina didn't sound the least bit like a person who had just been stabbed and was lying on the ground with a pool of blood under her. "K-kari - "

Reborn interrupted, holding up a hand. "Now, Kari, clean up this mess."

The girl groaned, still trying to get blood, or now that Akane realized, ketchup with water, out of her hair. "Reborn-san…"

Reborn shot a glare at her, and she instantly shut up, got a mop out of nowhere, and began to wipe up the mess. "Um, sir, may I ask who you are...? And what happened?" Akane said tentatively while rubbing her forehead. That's two times she got hit so hard on the forehead now.

"He's Reborn!" Umira screeched from the side, with Yori covering his ears. "AND THAT WAS YOUR TRAINING! AND HE'S SO STRONG AND AWESOME!"

The baby smirked and tipped his fedora down in a greeting. "Yes, that's me. Ciaossu."

…..

"There, it's done." Said a deep voice. "Test it."

"Sir, you sure are fast." Another voice replied, sounding slightly younger. There was suddenly a loud clang and then silence, with the voice muttering 'sorry'.

"Never mind that, go." The first voice commanded. It belonged to a shadowy figure, standing short. In his hands, there was a tube if glowing white liquid that was tinted with swirling blue streaks. The shadowy figure raised it up high into the shine of a green light and chuckled softly. "With this, the world shall finally obey." He said and extended it to where the other voice was coming from, within seconds, the tube was gone. "There's a good boy. Hurry back."

"Oy, is it ready?" A gruff voice asked.

"Patience. Science isn't what you think it is. It will be ready soon, and the deal shall be in place then, right?"

"Yes, you will, but you better hurry. You know what would happen if you don't." the gruff voice said, with a tint of a malicious tease. It was obvious that he was threatening the person with the deep voice.

The lights turned on, and the baby sized man with fuzzy green hair in a lab coat smirked. "Good."

...

Akane mirrored Karina's every move as she learned some basic martial arts. They were finally able to do some training. Sure, if you count the gore training, maybe they had already started. But two hours had passed since Akane first entered the gym assigned to them. Karina had spent both hours showering and changing as well as cleaning up the mess and tossing her stained clothing into the laundry back at their hotel room. Meanwhile, Akane, Umira and Yoritomo had nothing to do but look through some possible weapons they could use. None of them knew what to do anyway, they all depended on Karina- who was the one that made all of them go. Also, Tsuna wouldn't be able to come check on them until later on.

Akane sighed. She had chosen the kitchen knives and Yori did too, while Umira ranted something about 'secrecy' and 'ultimate weapon'. She didn't know how the knife would do anything but stab... and against some who knows what weapons from other teams… she'd probably lose badly. She didn't even know any self defence! Thinking of which, Akane's mind came back into the present and her body moved automatically. The hand to hand combat that Karina was teaching them just came to her naturally. Akane remembered when she was younger, and Karina had complained to her how hard she had to work each day to learn martial arts- as well as how harsh her mother was at teaching it.

A sudden loud yell interrupted her. Akane raised her head and looked into the mirror in front of her, plastered onto the silver wall. The blinding white lights dazed her for a moment, but when her eyes adjusted, she saw Umira rolling on the brown floor- again.

"No! Not like that! Yes, good, now turn on your toes and- Ugh! Not again! Stop tripping over your feet!" Karina shouted to Yoritomo first, then complimented Akane, but was interrupted by Umira's fall. The class president chuckled nervously, and gathered herself up from the floor. Kari facepalmed, and opened her mouth to speak again. "Alright people, we don't have enough time to go through all the hand-to-hand stuff, and the weapon stuff too, so we should first decide on our rings." She pointed to a raised platform in the center of the gym, where a box was placed.

Akane slowly walked towards the box with Umira right behind her, whining about how hard she fell. Yoritomo was in front of them both. Akane stopped and watched when Karina lifted the lid off of the box. A faint glow emitted from inside and Akane's face lit up. The rings were beautiful. Before she knew what was happening, Umira had suddenly appeared beside the box, and was grabbing rings out. She inspected them carefully, seemingly very concentrated. Akane thought that she looked like she was day dreaming.

"_Shiny!_" Umira said, eyes wide and smile splitting. "_I get one of these… I want all of these… my preciousssss… _" She murmured creepily. A shiver ran down Akane and she could see a sweat drop appearing on Yori's face.

"Explain these rings again?" Yoritomo said, hand in hair.

"No." Karina said almost instantly. Umira's eyes slitted into narrow slits and she hugged the box like it was her baby.

"You're not gonna take these away!" She said, eyes flickering. "W-" Umira started, but was cut off.

"Explain, Sawada-san." A deep, mellow voice interrupted.

Umira's facial expression changed slowly as she stared behind the three others, where the voice came from. "A-ah!...Council president! Why are you here?" Umira addressed to whoever was behind them.

"Council president…?" Akane and Karina asked at the same time. All of them turned around to face the newcomer.

Hibiki Osaku stood in front of them with his back straight, blond hair glistening under the fluorescent lights and serious brown eyes looking at each and every one of them. He was still wearing his student council president uniform.

"Osaku! Why are you here? You weren't invited." Karina said with a wave of her hand. "Don't just come walking in like you're allowed to."

"Kawasaki-san was talking on and on about it - I couldn't help but overhear. And actually, they never stopped me from coming in." Hibiki replied, slightly irritated by the lack of respect shown by Karina.

Umira beamed at Karina, only to receive a glare. "S-sorry! I was just so excited! You did say that we needed more members!"

"So, what's all this business about?" Hibiki asked, gesturing to all of them wearing the mandatory outer jackets. Kari kept on glaring at him while the other three were standing nervously. Hibiki was to be respected and you could only call him by his last name with a 'san', for fear that you would get punished. He was strict with formality, rules, and if you disobeyed him, there were pretty bad consequences, or so said in rumors. Only Kari wasn't afraid and dared to disobey him. She kept glaring at him for a long time, until she smiled widely. Yoritomo and Akane knew that smile all too well. She had finally comprehended what Umira said.

Karina quickly explained the situation, and forced Hibiki to join- which didn't take much. Karina had just said something to Hibiki and he replied with. "Well I'm already here so…" Then Karina ran all over the members, hugging them - that is, until her dad came in.

"Dad!" Karina exclaimed.

A sharp glance from Tsuna interrupted her.

"U-um…Ten… th? One of our other members had arrived… And he apologizes for being late." Kari said nervously. She was not used to calling her father 'Tenth'. Hibiki tossed her a look that said 'Wait what? Me? Apologize? You never said anything about this!' But Hibiki just dipped his head without a word.

Tsuna raised an eyebrow. "Mmkay. I'm sure he could have said so himself. But welcome." He said, extending a hand. Hibiki took it uncertainly and shook it. "Let's see… What's your name?" Tsuna asked.

"Osaku, Hibiki." Hibiki replied in his deep, mellow voice. Tsuna squeezed his hand.

"Quite some aura coming off of you there. You have much potential." Tsuna nodded.

"T-tenth…" Karina started, still trying to get used to the word. "Will you help us determine our ring types?" Tsuna turned his head.

"Ah, right. Well then. Gather around and I shall explain about the rings. Remember though, these are just replicates of the real ring. So their powers aren't as strong."

…..

Yamamoto walked down the streets alone. It was a sunny day, with no clouds and the sun shining brightly. He smiled slightly to himself as he watched children play at the park. He had left his cat back at his house, and Emo didn't really fashion walks anyway.

Gokudera had called earlier about the Hiyashi stronghold, but he had told him to wait until nighttime. Yamamoto had to do something first.

The path he took was unfamiliar. He had almost never walked that way. It was a strange path. It was leading to such a morose place, yet so much happiness was on the path leading to it. Children laughing, families together, couples sitting together under the shade of trees…

His hand stopped just as he was about to push open the gate. Was he really ready for this? Yamamoto sucked in a deep breath, and swung open the white gate. He stepped past white headstones, stepped past bouquets of flowers, and stood before a certain white headstone, with the engraving of a raindrop on it.

"I… I've come," Yamamoto whispered. He struggled to keep his composure, imagining his wife in front of him. "I must look so silly right now, poking so nervous." he chuckled, trying to push away the strong emotions crashing towards him. But it was no use. "I-I remember, your favorite flowers – primroses. And poppies." He held up a bouquet of flowers with his right hand, clenching the stalks lightly.

Yamamoto then knelt on the ground, head down. "I'm so sorry…" he said, voice breaking. He could feel the tears rushing in. A hand fell onto his shoulder. Yamamoto gasped in surprise and blinked.

"You've finally come to visit her," a black haired woman said. "She must be glad."

Yamamoto inhaled sharply and tears started rolling down his face. He turned his head back and faced the ground again. "Why are you here?" Yamamoto said, letting teardrops make wet stains on the stone.

The woman paused. "Do you think she would appreciate seeing you like this?" She asked in a gentle tone. Yamamoto pursed his lips.

"Just as I thought I finally found happiness..." Yamamoto said, his-still young-face twisted with pain.

The woman stood there for a bit. "Your mafia family is doing nothing. I've told you, come join us and you might get to meet your wife again."

"Quit blabbing your rubbish!" Yamamoto shouted, face grim. His hair fell past his forehead as he rocked back and forth from the rage within the shout. His eyes were hidden, but you could see his hands clenching. "If it weren't for you, would she have died!?" Yamamoto yelled in the woman's face, suddenly standing up.

The woman stumbled back a few steps, taken aback. She stared at Yamamoto, speechless for a brief moment. Yamamoto seized the chance and grabbed the woman's collar and pulled her forth. "If it weren't for you..." He hissed, breathing heavily. That's when Yamamoto saw the woman's red rimmed eyes with new tears coming in. He instantly let go of her, shocked that his rage had taken him so far as to treat a woman like that.

"I never ever meant to... If I knew what was going to happen..." The woman looked away. "If I didn't miss her as badly as you do, would I have sacrificed so much? Would I have gone through so much?" She whispered. "Yamamoto-kun. I miss her, too. Join me, and together, we will get her back." Yamamoto's grip tightened.

"Join you!?" He said with an angry laugh. "You are out of your mind." The woman's sad face was suddenly filled with anger.

"Yamamoto, let's be clear who exactly lost their mind! You keep blaming me! And I apologized plenty of times! 'If it weren't for me, if it weren't for me'! You keep ranting about it! But if it weren't for me," the woman inhaled, face red and eyes wide with tears. "TAKI WOULDN'T HAVE SURVIVED!" She spat that sentence with such force that she had to squeeze her eyes and bend slightly down, like a half jump. Tears flew out of the side of her eyes as the woman's hair slowly settled back into place. Yamamoto's eyes widened. He let go and took a few steps back. The woman took in gulps of air, looking surprised at what she had said herself.

"T-Taki..." Yamamoto said, clearly out of it now. He wavered and fell into a sitting position. The woman covered her mouth for a brief second, looking remorseful for what she had said. But then her eyes looked determined.

"You see now? You were the one who lost his mind! You were the one who let himself get too grieved to care about any damn thing!" The woman's piercing black eyes met Yamamoto's. "You were the one who abandoned his daughter and left her to rot in the hospital! If I didn't adopt her, who knows how long you would have let her stay there without any medical treatment? Who knows how long it would be until you finally came to your senses and paid the bill? If I wasn't a friend to your wife, would I have adopted her? Do you know how hard it is to not look at that child, and know that you're going to have to tell her the truth – that her mother died?! That her father abandoned her?! At least I did something for her!"

"... You're right... I failed at being a husband. I failed at being a father." Yamamoto started. Reality, something he'd been trying to escape, hit him hard, now that Taki had been mentioned.

"Then help me. You won't have to be afraid of looking into Taki's eyes – her eyes – then." The woman's tone returned soft. Yamamoto hesitated.

"...But don't you see, Hana? It's not going to change anything. It's not just her eyes. I can't go crawling back to her like this. She will never forgive me." Yamamoto took a deep breath. "It's time we accepted her death. I can't take this risk. You don't even know which family made the deal with you... And everyone has to die somewhen. I can't betray my own comrades." Yamamoto finished. Kurohana frowned.

"Yamamoto-kun, I know deep inside you're still grieving, still hurt. I know you are lying. I know you will do anything for her. Just wait and you'll see. In time you will realize what is more worthy. You're just like me. I can tell."

"Just leave... and make sure you take care of Taki. I'm telling you, I'm not going to join you." Yamamoto said, standing up. Kurokawa gave Yamamoto a stern and knowing stare, then she turned and walked away.

-**End of chapter**-

**Regi: Whole trainwreck of feels. Search up the flower meanings. *glares* PHILEEE!**

**Ail: WHAT!? Stop giving me nicknames, o-Natch! I already came up with one, is this **_**nickname**_ **not **_**short**_ **enough for you? And yes, yes, the feels the feels. Blah blah blah… The feels… the feels. *Sinks to knees and starts sobbing* THE FEELS!**

**Regi: I'm gonna call you what I want! I HAVE RIGHTS!**

**Ail: Oh really? But I just won't acknowledge any of them then! I've got my right to keep my name the way I want it to be! (u )3 I'm going by Ail, thanks. THIS IS A WARNING. *glares with dark aura***

**Regi: told ya she's evil. Anyways, Happy (late) Valentine's Day!**

**Phile: WHAT!? THAT IS UNREASONABLE. Fine, since it's supposed to be a holiday… I'll forgive you. W-wait! Did you change my nickname from Ail to Phile right there? Tsk tsk, you know what, mind changed. **

Akane - Yoritomo OVA - Valentine's Day

So, in Japan, girls are supposed to give boys chocolate, and on March 14th (White Day), it's the opposite.

"Yori-kun!"

Yoritomo looked up from his book to see a familiar girl running towards him, holding a blue box in her arms. "Yeah, chibi?"

Akane sighed. "Again. Please. Don't call me 'chibi'."

The boy grinned at this. "Force of habit."

Akane shook her head exasperatedly, and pushed her brown locks behind her ear. "Anyways~ You remember what day it is today?"

Yoritomo rolled his eyes, and ran his right hand through his already-messy black hair. "February 14th. You've got to remember dates, chibi." The girl glared at him at the last word, but took out her phone and showed him the screen.

"Mhm? It's just Valentine's – oh."

There was a short awkward silence. Akane plopped down next to Yori, and leant back against the trunk of the tree they were under. It was only a little chilly, but as long as you wore a sweater or jacket, you were fine. "I brought you chocolate," Akane said, giving the blue box to Yoritomo. "Remember when we all ate chocolate fondue together when we were in elementary school? I made that – sort of. It's basically just a lot of different fruits and cookies dipped in chocolate."

Yori took the box, and fingered the ribbon on it. "Yeah, thanks. But don't you like Bobu (BOB! 'TIS BOB! JUST WITH THE JAPANESE ROMAJI-ISH VERSION!)?"

Akane's face reddened. "No! Besides, this is just out of politeness and friendship-ness. I gave everyone a box."

Yoritomo laughed, and set the box aside. "Gotcha! I was just joking! don't take everything so seriously, chibi."

The girl relaxed a bit. She looked up towards the branches with wondering brown eyes, marvelling at how the sun shone through the leaves. "It's a beautiful day today, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Yoritomo's voice was a bit muffled. Akane glanced towards her left, and saw that he had was lying against the trunk of the tree, his book open on top of his face. His arms were under his head, and the light breeze messed up his brownish-black hair even more. She smiled a bit. Though Yori acted all boring and distant, she knew he wasn't really like that. You just had to know him better.

Akane closed her eyes and relaxed. The wind rustled through the leaves, making a nice music-like sound. She leaned against Yori's shoulder, feeling a sense of safety. It was just like when they were little. Yoritomo had let her cry on his shoulder as he was reading, because her mother left her for work again. Little by little, she had drifted off to sleep, and when she woke up, her father was carrying her home.

"Chibi."

"Mm?"

"You'd better go deliver the rest of those chocolates now. Lunch break is gonna end soon."

"I don't want to leave. It feels so relaxing here… and I can deliver them after school."

"We're going to Kazu's house right after the bell rings, don't you remember?"

Akane's eyes snapped open, and she sat up straight. "Oh, right! I have to deliver the chocolates to ten more people –"

"There's only ten minutes left," Yori said tauntingly, taking the book off of his face and setting it down on the ground.

Akane groaned inwardly. "Yes, yes…" Yoritomo gave a small smile and ruffled her hair. The girl stood up and began to run back towards the school building. "See you after school!" she called out behind her shoulder.

"Wait, I've got something for you, too! And Chibi, we have class together after lunch! Did you forget that?"

"Yes, and don't call me chibi!" Akane said, skidding to a halt.

"Stretch out your hand." Yori said with a smile. Akane extended her hand impatiently. Yori grinned and grabbed Akane's wrist, pulling her into him. Yoritomo pulled her close to him, their noses almost touching. Akane's reaction was more than surprised. She instantly went bright red and dropped her boxes of chocolates. Yoritomo's heart gave a lurch and pounded fast. He lingered for a moment before pulling her into a hug.

"Happy valentine's day." Yoritomo whispered, eyes closed with a smile. Akane awkwardly nodded and averted her eyes. Then she picked up the boxes of chocolates with Yori's help.

"A-ah... I got to deliver these..." Akane's said, dazed by the suddenness of it all. Yoritomo watched Akane run off. Maybe he shouldn't have been so abrupt... But when will she notice his place for her...? At least he tried. Yoritomo still doesn't have just enough courage to confess... yet.

Yori sighed and picked up the box of chocolates she had given him. Feeling a bit hungry, he decided to open the box and eat some of it. Akane's handwriting was on the top, and in small letters, were the words 'to Yori-kun'. He took off the ribbon and the lid, and saw a bunch of his favorite cookies in the box surrounded by different fruits dipped in chocolate.

She actually remembered what had happened quite a couple of years ago on Valentine's Day, when they all told each other their favorite dessert. He had chosen a cookie that had almost no sugar at all… However, if it was covered in chocolate, it tasted delicious.

Typical Akane. Though at times completely oblivious to things, she knew and remembered almost anything and everything about her friends.

Yoritomo took a chocolate-covered cookie and popped it into his mouth, then closed the box of sweets. He wasn't usually one for sweets, but this was a special occasion, and he had to save the cookies for later.

He picked up his book again, dark brown eyes lingering on the cover of the book for just a moment. "The Rain Finds the Sky". His eyes scanned through the book, trying to find where he had left off, and when he found it, Yoritomo realized he couldn't focus on reading anymore.

Yori slumped back against the tree again, closing his eyes, and set the book down. With one arm through his hair, and one arm over his eyes.

"Akane...ga?" Yoritomo muttered. "You're so useless, Yori. She will never notice like this...Stop being afraid..." He said to himself. Then Yoritomo straightened up. He laughed at himself for being so foolish. But the laughter soon faded. It was actually true. He had to stop being so afraid. He had to let Akane know.

Yoritomo stood up abruptly and puffed up his chest. With determined eyes, he ran off towards where Akane had run. His legs carried him fast.

Regi: Stars I fail at writing romance XD fair enough, seeing as I don't like it. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! And Phile, you got to write your romance~ Though it's only in an OVA XD

Ail: there it is again... Oh Gion, yes isn't romance so fun to write?


End file.
